


You're My Mission, No More, No Less

by ChickenXD



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempted Murder, Light BDSM, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-04
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-07 11:28:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1897305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenXD/pseuds/ChickenXD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi was hired by a mysterious commissioner to kill Erwin Smith, a young politician on the rise. Shit happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

         Night doesn’t start until eleven o’clock.

         Just because the sky had turned dark and the moon had risen, it didn’t always mean that the night had started. It only begins when all beasts had crept out of their lairs; people had returned to their houses and turned their lamps off. Nocturnal animals that dared not appear during daytime would come out then – hidden by the dark, they start their activities.

         A black-haired young man was sitting in a dark corner of a bright, noisy club. On the stage a few metres in front of him, a young woman (he was guessing she was around 20 years old) wearing nothing but white lingerie was dancing seductively, with a few men who barely wore anything as background dancers. He looked away from the stage and tightened his grip around his bottle of ginger ale.

         He didn’t like the place, but he had no choice. He came to talk about business, after all – or else he would’ve chosen somewhere quiet to kill some time, like a library. He checked his watch and it read 11:37 – the person he was supposed to meet agreed to come at 11:45, so the wait wouldn’t last that long. He waved at a waiter who happened to pass by his booth, and asked for another bowl of fries.

         He was eager to get out of the place and never come back again. He’d been told to come to many weird places to discuss about work – a park, an elite bar, an office, even a luxurious penthouse – but not in a lowly, gaudy place like this. Whoever called him would better have something interesting and big, or he’d be more than glad to give the guy a piece of his mind.

         A girl with long, wavy blonde hair in brown underwear suddenly walked to him and sat down next to him. He cringed a little when she circled an arm around his neck, and pushed her away. However, she didn’t even budge, and only laughed at his attempt to drive her away.

         “Well, I guess you must be that guy,” she said with a smile. Her breath reeked of alcohol and he hated that. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”  
         “You’re mistaken,” he said, a tone of disgust in his voice. “I don’t know any bitches like you.”

         “Hey, that’s rude, you know,” she said as she finally let go. “Well, you could’ve told me you don’t like a place like this instead of calling me a bitch.”

         Oh, so this is the person who called him.

         “Get down to business.”

         “Why, you’re an interesting man,” she said as she took a cigarette from the table and lit it. “I think you’ll like this job – I find it interesting myself.”

         “Who sent you here?”

         “You’re so stiff.”

         He sighed as he took off his black jacket and handed it to her.

         “Cover up,” he said. “I don’t like talking to naked women.”

         “You don’t like watching porn? How conservative.”

         “I’m here for business, not for entertainment.”  
         “Alright, alright.” She hung the jacket on her shoulders and blew the smoke to his face. “You know Erwin Smith, don’t you?”

         “That guy on today’s front page.”

         “Yeah,” she answered. “I know a lot of people like him and all, but a man has his enemies. And for him, he has quite a lot. So…”

         “Shouldn’t be difficult,” he said. “How much time do I have?”

         “You can take as long as you want.”

         Now that sounds suspicious. It wasn’t the first time he had a job that had no time limits, but usually that meant something else was up. He quietly thought about the name the girl just mentioned – Erwin Smith.

         The man didn’t know too much about Erwin – not yet. All he knew from the newspaper was that Erwin was a politician whose popularity is rising, and he was best known for his radical ideas – so radical the ideas stood out although he belonged to an extreme left party. If he did what he was planning to although the end goal was impossible to achieve, he might cause a revolution and destroy the stability of the country.

         However, no matter how much one could deny it, his ideas were for the good of the people.

         Not like Levi cared.

         “…How much?”

         “I have the so-called ‘down payment’ right here with me, now,” she said as she put her hand on his shoulder. She was wearing a ring with a huge diamond on it, and he was left to wonder how much it would worth. And it was just the ‘down payment’.

         “So are you in or not, dearie?”

         “I don’t think all you want me to do is to kill him,” he said. “Not with a payment that big.”

         “You’re quite the smart one,” she said as she took off the ring and started playing with it. “Well, if you can get some information about him, we’ll add something to your final pay. But even if you only manage to kill him, I think we’ve got something worth this ring for the final pay. That’s not bad.”

         “That’s fucking awesome, since I’m just killing a man.” He took the ring from her and put it into his pocket. “How do I contact you?”

         “I’m here every Thursday and Friday,” she said as she handed the jacket back to him. “Since you don’t like this place, I suppose we can go somewhere else… right, come here and order me a martini, then go to the coffee shop across the street.”

         “I’ll keep that in mind.”

         He finished the rest of the ginger ale, and walked out of the door. Once he was out, he took out the ring and examined it closely before he put it back into his pocket – it didn’t seem to be a fake. Tomorrow he’d have to go to a jewellery shop and measure how much Erwin’s head is worth.

         The man pulled the hoodie over his head, and disappeared into the darkness.


	2. 1

       A black-haired man walked into a room and walked to the kitchen. He poured some water into a heater, and opened the cupboard. There were boxes of tea lined up in the cupboard – earl grey, camomile, Darjeeling, English breakfast, green tea, oolong, apple, strawberry, peach, orange infused – he took a pack of green tea along with a white cup, poured some hot water, and sat on a chair.

         He’d spent the night roaming around the city, looking for information about Erwin Smith. So far, he hadn’t gotten much, but it wasn’t a bad start either.

         The first thing he had to do when the sun rises would be going to a certain friend’s house to look for more information and get an estimate of the ring’s price. Then, he’d start the stalking – he didn’t want to finish his job too fast, not when he had the promised ‘something’ if he got some information out of Erwin.

         Sounds like fun.

         He sipped his tea as he turned on the TV. He hardly ever turned on his TV in the morning as there was nothing but boring news, but that day, he decided that watching TV would be part of ‘research’ as well.

 

         _“This morning we bring you news about the promising young politician, Erwin Smith. He came from the extreme left party Colossal, and he seemed to be planning to run for the Federal Cabinet, and he promised to bring a better future for this country.”_

A blonde man sighed as he changed the channel for the umpteenth time. All channels he’d signed up for this morning talked about nothing but him, and they were pretty much saying the same thing without any evidence. The next channel talked about him again – he gave up and turned off the TV.

         He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was tidy; he was wearing a freshly ironed brown suit with a matching yellow tie; his glasses was tucked in his breast pocket; everything looked good. He emptied the cup of coffee on the table, and walked out with his briefcase in hand.

         It was going to be a rather busy day.

         He had a meeting in the morning, followed by a press conference, and then he was to go out for lunch with a reporter from a magazine, and after that he would have another meeting before he was allowed some time to deal with his own work.

         He arrived on the bus stop just in time for his usual bus to arrive. He boarded the empty bus, paid the fare, and sat on the third row by the window. He glanced at his watch – six-thirty – perfect.

         There weren’t anyone on the bus except for him and a mother with her young son sitting at the far back. He could hear the boy say something along the lines of ‘mother, isn’t he the man on the TV’, but his mother hushed him.

         Erwin took out his notes – might as well work on some stuff or do some thinking until he arrived at his destination.

         Erwin was too absorbed in his whole work for the whole time to even notice how many times the bus stopped, how many people got on, how many people noticed him sitting there and whispering things. It was as if he was an outcast of the society – people avoided him, but kept talking about him secretly anyway. Ah, but isn’t that a normal situation – things that sound ‘illegal’ always appeal to people, no matter how much they try to avoid it.

         Erwin was pretty much undisturbed, until they arrived at a spot and a young man sat down next to him.

         Erwin examined the young man sitting next to him. He had black hair and small grey eyes, and he was wearing a black hoodie. Erwin guessed that the young man would be around twenty years old, although he had a small build if he indeed was twenty. The young man didn’t look at Erwin at all – as if Erwin wasn’t there. Erwin couldn’t help but be surprised – nobody had ever acted like that towards him since he started getting active in political activities.

         “Hello.”

         The young man turned towards Erwin, as if surprised that someone was actually next to him. He then sighed and looked away.

         “Hello.” Erwin could almost feel the icy wind in his breath.

         “Are you a college student?” The young man didn’t have a bag or anything on him – Erwin could see that he had a phone in the pocket of his hoodie, and that was all.

         “What do you think?”

         “Well…” The young man sure wasn’t very friendly. “I guess so, reconsidering the age you’re in.”

         “I don’t have any classes today.”

         “I see.

         “I’m Erwin Smith,” he said as he held out his right hand. “And…”

         “I know you, they talk about you every morning like you’re some kind of god,” the young man blurted. “Levi.”

         “Levi.” Erwin smiled and nodded in satisfaction. “Nice to meet you.”

         Levi only shrugged as he looked away. Somehow Erwin felt pleased, although he could only get his first name.

         The bus stopped again, and called out Erwin’s destination. Erwin picked up his briefcase and walked out. Once he was outside, he could see that the young man had taken over his seat, and he was busy with his phone. Erwin decided to dismiss those events, and left the bus stop.

~•~

         Levi arrived in front of an apartment, and knocked the door twice. In a few seconds, he could hear footsteps from inside, and soon a white-haired man opened the door.

         “Oh, it’s Levi!” he greeted with a smile. “Come on in. I’ve been expecting you.”

         “You’ve got info about that guy, Farlan?”

         “Not a lot, but I hope it’ll be helpful.” Levi walked into the apartment and walked straight to the fridge. There was a glass of bubble tea, which Levi took. Farlan only sighed as he sat on a chair next to the fridge.

         “You and your love towards tea.”

         “I’ll get you ten of these if you want me to,” Levi answered as he stabbed the top with a straw. “But I’m thirsty, so can I have this one?”

         “Whatever, I can always get another one. Anyway.” Farlan turned to Levi. “So who commissioned you?”

         “I don’t know exactly, he just sent a stripper to tell me,” Levi answered. “Whoever it is, though, he sure really wants to see Erwin dead.”

         He took out the ring he got yesterday and threw it to his friend. Farlan grabbed it, and gasped in awe as he saw it in his hands.

         “They call it down payment.”

         “Good God,” he whispered. “This can cost about 100K. Let me value it properly for you.”

         “A hundred? Not bad.”

         “What do you mean by not bad, it’s just your down payment! How much is…”

         “By the way, I already met him this morning,” Levi cut. “Last night I went around asking people, and already managed to find the restaurant he frequented, the bus route he takes everyday. So tell me you’ve got something new.”

         “I found his address, if that’s gonna help.” Farlan opened a laptop that’s been sitting on the table. “I don’t think it’ll be easy for you to finish him. He’s got a friend who’s always around him.”

         “Well, he was alone on the bus.”

         “Here,” Farlan stood up from his chair and gestured for Levi to sit. On the screen was a profile of a blond man with moustache and sharp nose. “This is Mike Zacharias. He’s been with Erwin for a long, long time. You wanna watch out for him.”

         Levi leaned down and studied the man in the photo intently. Farlan left Levi to read for a while, then leaned over and grabbed the mouse again.

         “And he’s got another friend called Hanji Zoe, but you see her on the TV every now and then.”

         “You know I don’t watch TV unless necessary.”

         “Well… she’s a scientist,” Farlan said. “A mad one. If you ever see them together, get out.”

         “Are they lovers?”

         “I don’t think so.” Farlan clicked a few things, and a picture of a red-haired woman with glasses appeared on the screen. “There, if you want to see what she’s like.”

         “Anything else?”

         “He always takes bus 32 every morning to work, he likes to go to Rose Garden Restaurant, and for entertainment he goes to Bar Oasis. Does that help?”

         “Does he have a family?”

         “Don’t think so. If he has, the reporters would probably be hunting pics of his wife and kids.”

         “Background?”

         “His dad used to teach law in St. Maria University until he died of kidney failure two years ago. I don’t know about his mum, but he lives alone.” Farlan ripped a sheet off a stack of Post-it. “Here’s his address, by the way.”

         “What about women? What kind of ladies does he like? Plump, thin? Blonde, or dark hair?”

         “Now that’s something you gotta ask him yourself,” Farlan sighed. “I heard, and let me stress it, I heard, he’s gay. Thus all the campaign for gay people.”

         Levi studied the address, and then put it into his pocket. He drank the rest of the tea and walked to the door.

         “Value that ring for me, and cash it out.”

         “Well, you sure are confident,” Farlan said with a smile. “By the way, why did your commissioner want to kill him? I mean, Erwin doesn’t have a good reputation, but it’s not bad enough to kill him either.”

         “Don’t know, don’t care,” Levi answered. “As long as I get my job done.”

~•~

         Erwin walked out of the office building and looked at his watch that read 18:24. Walking next to him was his loyal friend, Mike Zacharias, hastily putting a water bottle into his backpack.

         “Are you going back home, Mike?”

         “A high school friend invited me to dinner,” Mike answered. “You probably don’t know him, but wanna tag along?”  
         “I think I’ll pass,” Erwin refused politely. “Have fun, Mike. See you tomorrow.”

         Erwin walked to the bus stop as he watched Mike hailed a cab. He looked at the LED board above his head, which told him that a bus on route 32 would arrive in three minutes. He checked his phone to see any missed calls and set his reminders for tomorrow, and before he knew it, the bus had stopped in front of him.

         He walked into the bus, paid the fare, and looked around to find a seat. Fortunately, there were a few left, and as he looked for the seat his eyes fell on something else.

         It was the young man he met this morning, and the seat next to him happened to be empty, too.

         Levi looked up from his phone to notice that Erwin was looking at him, a warm smile drawn across his face.

         “So how was your day, Levi?”

         “I guess it’s okay,” Levi answered as he turned to his phone. “What about you? I saw you on TV.”

         “Can we not talk about that?”

         Levi shrugged. “Someone doesn’t like being famous, I see.”

         “Well, being famous is good since I can get to talk to more people, but to be honest, I don’t really like a lot of attention.”

         “Because your kids get picked on at school?”

         Erwin chuckled. “I’m sorry, but I’m not married yet.”

         Levi didn’t need to be told, but he was glad he heard that out of Erwin’s mouth. “A fine young man like you? Impossible. Girlfriend maybe? You must be quite the lady killer, right?”

         “None of them are interested in me, and I’m not that interested in them either.”

         _Oh yeah, forgot he’s gay._ “So you live alone?”

         “Yes. My apartment is only fit for one or two people, after all.”

         Not really. From what Levi’d checked, Erwin’s apartment (read as: penthouse) had enough room for a family of 8.

         “I see.”

         “That’s right, why don’t we go have dinner together?”

         Levi turned to Erwin, surprised. This was the first time he had a victim that wasn’t actually aware he was being stalked by an assassin, and dared ask the said assassin to dinner together although they hadn’t even known each other for a full 24 hours. Levi’s thoughts immediately hovered to ‘kill’, and he actually brought along a small knife he could stab into Erwin’s heart, but the thought of the bonus he could get if he could find some information was too tempting.

         “We just met this morning, and now you’re inviting me to dinner.” _This guy is either a cash reserve or an idiot._ “Are you sure it’s not weird at all?”

         “I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Erwin said along with his disarming smile. “I happen to know a nice bar near my apartment. We can go there.”

         “Aren’t you worried about how people will react if they see you with a poor-ass college student in a bar?”

         “You talk like I have a good reputation.”

         Levi chuckled as he looked away. Seems like the 200,000 pay was right in front of his eyes, waiting for him to take it.

         _I’ll get the information out of here tonight, kill him, and contact that lady tomorrow._

“If you pay for it, I can’t refuse.”

~•~

         Erwin brought him to a really fancy bar with a sign that read ‘Rose Garden’. There weren’t a lot of people inside, and the ones inside looked like Erwin – really tidy, seemingly rich, ignorant – Levi almost felt out of place with his old hoodie and jeans, but then he remembered that he could actually be among these people and not with Erwin if he wasn’t in his mission.

         Erwin walked to the server, said a few things, and they were led into a private room. The room was pretty big, and it was decorated with fancy items – there was an imitation of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” hung on a wall, a small chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and a beautiful Chinese vase on the dining table, filled with colourful roses. The server pulled chairs for both of them, and Levi pretended to look interested as he sat down.

         “What’s this, a room you tell them to reserve?”

         “Sort of. I don’t always use it though, I only use it when I’m coming with someone.” Erwin smiled upon seeing Levi’s reaction. “How do you like it?”

         “It’s pretty nice.” _It looks like a game room in a retirement house._

“Then, feel free to order.” Erwin opened the menu in front of them. “I suppose you’re old enough to drink wine.”

         “Well, I am,” Levi answered. “But I prefer not to drink.”

         “Why so?”

         “I have a condition.” _So I can kill you when you’re drunk, why else._

         “I see. Then…” Erwin flipped through the pages. “Let’s just order something non-alcoholic. You should look at the mocktails.”

         “You don’t have to, I mean… you can drink wine if you want, I’ll just ask for water or something.”

         “I’ll feel bad, though.”

         Levi silently cursed – he’d never meet a man so cautious with no real reason. He decided to discard the plan to kill Erwin while he was drunk and started looking through the menu.

         He didn’t know too much about the food listed, and there weren’t any small informative paragraphs under each of them – all he could see was the name (“What is foie gras, is it grass? What’s Coq au vin? Isn’t Ratatouille that movie with a mouse? So is it fried mouse?”), and the sky-high price.

         Erwin ordered Bruschetta, Foie gras (“Maybe it’s not grass after all.”) and ice cream, while Levi, after much consideration, ordered one of the few foods he knew, casserole. Levi went through the mocktail list without finding anything he wanted, so he just ordered a Shirley Temple, like Erwin.

         “So,” Erwin began their conversation. “How’s college for you, Levi?”

         “Well, I guess it’s ok,” Levi answered. “Nothing much. I mean, the class is boring, it’s bloody expensive, the lessons suck.”

         “What major are you taking?”

         “Business.”

         “I see that’s still a popular one,” Erwin said. “I took a double degree, law and business.”

         “Uh-hm.”

         “…You’re not too interested, are you?”

         “To be honest, I only went to college because I got this shitty scholarship,” Levi answered. “My parents actually didn’t have money, but then this college saw my manuscript and thought that they should put me in, so here I am.”

         “Are you graduating soon?”

         “This is my last semester. My GPA is about 3.8, I think I won’t have any problems graduating.”

         “Have you considered life after college?”

         “I can be a teacher,” Levi said. “Easy, honourable, needed.”  
         “I don’t think that would really suit you, considering how smart you are,” Erwin said. “You can work in a corporation or something. I’m pretty sure you can get in easily.”

         “Don’t preach me about it, I’ve seen a lot of business graduates sell burgers or work as a cashier in markets.”

         “I don’t see you there, though.”

         Levi fell silent and turned to Erwin. Erwin was smiling again, as if he was trying to convince Levi that everything would be fine. Levi sighed as he looked away.

         “I guess all politicians have that one skill to persuade and flatter people, huh.”  
         “I won’t deny it,” Erwin replied. “However, I have a plan, unlike other politicians who only promises things.”  
         “Well, you probably are just bragging about your plan now and never actually realize it later after you’re chosen.”

         Erwin laughed, but it didn’t sound like he was mocking Levi.

         “I’ve heard that so many times,” Erwin said with a smile. “They say that my plans are too far-fetched, they’re too difficult to realize… well, I can’t blame them. Some of my ideas sound ridiculous, maybe.”

         “You mean ‘all’.”

         Erwin only smiled.

         A waiter came to serve their food. Levi then realized that the portion was actually bigger than what he expected, plus the appetizer and dessert. There was no way he could finish all of that alone…

         _I guess I should at least try… bringing home some boxes would be fine._

“But if you think about it, Levi, my plans are for the good of the people,” Erwin begun. “You see, according to statistics, in five years, poverty level had raised by 3% and there are 500 more kids leaving school every year. Unemployment rates also went up, from 5% to 7%, and there is a sharp inflation. I suppose you already know of this, since you’re in business major.”

         “Yeah.”

         “First of all, I plan to reduce the inflation. Yes, it probably would cause the economy to go stagnant, however the prices are too high and people aren’t making enough money. If people have more money, then poverty level will also decrease. I also plan to change the educational system. Now, in order to…”

         “You’re not running for president, though.”  
         “If I manage to get into parliament, I can make some rules regarding that. Cabinet also has a say about the president’s decisions.”

         At this point Levi was picking at his food. He was listening, yes, but he had been in this country for… what, four months? And after his task with Erwin was over, he’d move out anyway. The only kind of news he knows comes from Farlan and it would probably be about Levi himself.

         Erwin kept talking for a while before he realized that Levi showed no interest at all, and stopped talking. Levi turned to Erwin at the abrupt silence, expecting to see him angry, but Erwin was smiling.

         “I thought you’d get bored.”

         “Sorry.” Levi sighed as he fixed his sitting position. “Feel free to go on, I’m listening…”

         “No, it’s fine,” Erwin smiled. “I know I bore people with my topics, but you’re the first person to actually show it. Other people just keep smiling as if they find it interesting, and it kind of bothers me.”

         “And here I thought you’d throw your fork at me.”

         “I won’t do that, no.” Erwin sliced some of his food. “You’re a nice guy, you know.”

         “And what makes you say so?”

         “You’re straightforward,” he replied. “That’s the best part.”

         “Because politicians talk in circles?”

         Erwin couldn’t help but chuckle at that remark. Levi kept his deadpan face, and continued eating. Every once in a while Levi would glance at Erwin, and caught Erwin staring at him.

         After eating half of the plate, Levi put down his spoon and sighed. Not like he couldn’t eat anymore, but he just thought that he shouldn’t overeat. Obviously Erwin noticed that Levi couldn’t finish his food, and looked at him with concern.

         “Are you feeling alright?”

         “I’m just full,” Levi lied.

         “No room for the ice cream?” Erwin asked – he was already eating the ice cream. “The ice cream is really good, you know.”

         “I think I’ll pass.” Levi tried to make an expression of regret on his face, and seemed like it worked pretty well.

         “I’ll cancel that, then.”

         “Sorry.”

         “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault.” Erwin rang the bell to call a waiter. “I guess we should get the rest of your food packaged too.”

         A waiter came, and Erwin told him to cancel the ice cream, pack the food, and bring the bill.

         “Is your house far from here?”

         “I think it’ll just take 15 minutes with the bus.” Levi checked his watch and noticed that it was already 10 PM. Didn’t sound like a bad time to go home and plan the stalking for tomorrow, since the plans he had already failed.

         “Should I accompany you home?”

         “No, I don’t think it’s necessary.”

         Levi then looked up, and noticed something different in Erwin’s eyes. They were gleaming brilliantly as usual, but this time, Levi noticed something wild, demanding in them.

~•~

         “I thought you said your apartment is for two.”

         “Well, there are only the two of us here.”

         Erwin pushed Levi to the wall, and they kissed. Erwin was so wild yet so gentle that Levi had no idea what kind of reaction would be proper. So Levi just opened his mouth and let Erwin in, not showing any resistance.

         “I should’ve known you had something else in mind,” Levi whispered as Erwin finally let go. “You could’ve told me from the start, you know.”

         “I don’t want to scare you.” Erwin took off the hoodie Levi was wearing and hastily unbuttoned his own suit. Levi let Erwin rest his head on his shoulders and bite his neck, although he knew that it would leave a mark. It felt really nice, and the thought of killing Erwin while they were fucking appeared in Levi’s mind, but then Erwin kissed him again and it was gone.

         Levi was brought into a huge bedroom, and he immediately lay on the bed and unzipped his pants. Erwin took off his tie and pants and soon joined Levi on the bed.

         “Not your first time?”

         “Well, not your first time either,” Levi whispered as Erwin pushed him down to the bed and took out his cock. Levi couldn’t help but be surprised by the size, but he hid it with a smile as he sat up.

         “Let’s do this the other way round, sir,” he said. “You lay down and I’ll ride your junk.”

         Erwin smirked. “Sounds pretty good.”

Levi positioned himself above Erwin's cock, but Erwin was too impatient to wait. He grabbed Levi's shoulders and pushed him down.

Levi let out a soft moan as he felt Erwin entering. Erwin was so big that he could barely contain it, but it felt so different — Levi liked how he had to put some effort to make sure that Erwin could fit. He'd pause every once in a while to let his muscles relax before pushing Erwin deeper because goodness — Levi couldn't believe how good it felt and he just wanted more, and more.

“So tight, Levi...” Erwin let out a soft gasp after that as he felt himself going deeper. Levi looked like he was in so much pain that Erwin couldn't help but worry, but before Erwin could say anything Levi pushed further, and Erwin could feel his whole body spasmed as he came.

~•~

         Levi got out of bed an hour later. It felt uncomfortable to pretend he was asleep, but seeing that Erwin was sleeping soundly, he bravely crawled out and checked whether his knife and phone was still in his hoodie although he didn’t really need to. He turned to look at Erwin to see whether he noticed any movements, and after making sure that everything was clear, he took out his knife from his hoodie on the floor and aimed it on Erwin’s neck.

         Erwin’s neck was exposed nicely, and with Levi’s experience, getting it cut shouldn’t be too difficult. Erwin was still fast asleep – the murder would be simple, Levi just needed to cut the jugular vein or stab the back of his head, replace the bed sheets so there wouldn’t be any evidence, and then burn the bloody bed sheets outside, look for the documents in the suitcase, and the job would be over. Probably spray a lot of bleach as the final touch, so that the body wouldn’t be discovered a few days and he’d have time to escape. Levi raised his knife –

         And the precise moment he was about to lower his hand, Erwin suddenly mumbled something incoherent.

         Levi swore he could’ve fell off the bed from shock, but luckily, he didn’t. He placed the knife on the floor carefully in case Erwin should wake up, but after a few minutes of waiting, Erwin remained asleep. Levi quietly wondered whether he should give it another try, but something in his head kept bugging him ‘don’t’, and Levi knew better than to not listen to his own instincts.

         Levi got off the bed again, wore his hoodie and hid his knife, and walked out of the room.

         Once he was outside, he walked over to the suitcase on the sofa and opened it. He was expecting a bunch of documents about secret government experiments or such, but the bag only contained a notebook and a travel wallet. He opened the travel wallet, secretly hoping to find a flash disk or something he could bring home, but there were just a few credit cards, name cards, and a bit of cash. Levi opened the notebook and read a few pages of it – most of them were just telephone numbers and names and bit of schedules. Levi opened all the cabinets he could open, took down a few ornaments to look for hidden storages, but there was nothing for him to find.

         _There’s nothing here. I should leave._

Levi opened the penthouse door, and left using the emergency stairs.

        

         “Erwin?! What happened?! You got involved in an accident?!”

         “Hanji, calm down.”

         “Well, it’s unlike you to call at 1 AM! Something happened?”

         “Ahh,” Erwin groaned. “Hanji, you’re right about the assassin thing.”

         “Really?” The voice on the other end asked. “Then you should have Mike around you at all times, alright? Don’t get killed!”

         “I won’t, Hanji, I just had sex with him.”

         The phone fell silent.

         “Anyway,” Erwin continued. “Mike gave you my stuff, right?”

         “He just gave me your laptop and a notebook. Is that all?”  
         “I’ll drop off a few more things tomorrow. Maybe. I don’t know what else to drop off, though.”

         “By the way,” Hanji said. “You saw the killer’s face, right? Can you describe it for Moblit to draw and for me to ID?”

         “Black hair, small grey eyes, pretty short, about my shoulder’s height. Looks like a college student in a glance. Calls himself Levi. I knew it’s him because he wouldn’t drink and… well, he pointed a knife at my neck.”

         “Ahh, it’s him!” Hanji exclaimed. “Interpol was looking for him too. Remember the assassination of… I forgot who, the prime minister?”

         “I’ll handle this my way. See you tomorrow.”

         “Your way?” Hanji chuckled. “I feel sorry for that guy.”


	3. 2

         Levi woke up with a start for unknown reasons. It was strange indeed – Levi didn’t remember having any nightmares or such, he hadn’t taken any drugs or all, as if it just happened. He lay down on the bed again, trying to calm himself down, and a few minutes later he crawled out of the bed and walked outside.

         He made himself some tea and sat on his couch, actually sinking into it. Honestly he was still tired, plus his body was hurting so much, but the thought that Erwin was still alive kept him awake – there was still something to do, a job to finish.

         After the events that transpired last night, it should be safe to assume that Erwin Smith wasn’t an easy kill. The exact term would be ‘lucky’, because Levi could swear that he would be somewhere getting his pay if Erwin didn’t say anything while he was asleep and made Levi doubt whether he could carry out the assassination. On another thought, his pay wouldn’t be that high if Erwin was easy to kill.

         “Assume,” he muttered. “Assume that he’s a light sleeper. Let’s drug him then. But that would leave me no alibi. Well, I’ll be out of the country by the time they start investigating. So, while we were eating in Rose Garden, I’ll slip out, say I’m going to the toilet or something, put some poison, that’ll do the thing. Reconsidering the kind of guy he is, he shouldn’t notice. As for the suspect, I’m pretty sure they’ll just blame one of the servants. If any of them were to testify against me, I wouldn’t exist by that time too.

         “Let’s make plan B. I can sneak into his house, hide in a wardrobe, and kill him in his sleep. Then I can walk out acting like I’m just an employee. Of course I have to sneak into his house and cut all his cameras first.”

         He fell silent and sipped a bit of his tea. Plotting and carrying out murders are never difficult for him – seems like the tough part with Erwin would be looking for an opening.

         He finished drinking his tea, then put the mug in the dishwasher and went back into his room.

         He had a good, long shower, then stepped into his closet and took some supplies. He first took his Walther gun and its silencer, placed them in a holster, and took a few spare magazines. Next he took a few vials filled with clear liquid and a small syringe, and put them in a small waist bag. Then he took his knifes and tied them around his arm. He wore a rather loose turtleneck shirt that collar could be raised up to his nose, and wore his usual black hoodie. He walked out, opened a violin case to check his rifle, then closed it again and checked his watch.

         Eight o’clock sharp – not bad.

         He walked out of the door and went downstairs to a café. There weren’t a lot of people at that hour, so Levi was able to get a table in the darkest corner. He ordered a éclair and a cup of milk tea before he noticed a familiar figure pictured on a pile of magazines in a table not far from his.

         He hated to admit it, but Erwin looked bloody handsome in the black button down shirt he wore in the cover that Levi couldn’t help but feel jealous.

         The magazine wrote Erwin as the CEO of a statistics company called Survey Corps (now Levi knew where Erwin got his numbers from). The company not only dealt with stats, but also audited some corrupt businesses, even government companies. The magazine also wrote about bits of Erwin’s life history although most of them were about his career, and it probably wouldn’t be that useful, but Levi thought that researching wouldn’t do him any harm.

         _This guy has everything,_ he thought. _He’s got all the money, the fame, the looks, and soon enough, the power. Motive enough for a shady guy to hire me._

He closed the magazine, left some money, and walked out.

         Last night, while reading through Erwin’s notebook, he found some useful information that would surely help him track the man’s presence for a few days ahead.

         _Bart Company._

         Somehow, he felt positive that he could secure his pay in 24 hours.

~•~

         Erwin picked up his phone and put it by his ear.

         “Hello?”

         “Sir,” he could hear his secretary’s voice. “Someone from Interpol said they want to speak with you, and they say it’s urgent…”

         “Put him on the line.”

         There was brief silence, before the voice on the line was replaced the voice of a grown man.

         “Mr. Smith, is it?” the voice asked. “I’m Lang from Interpol.”

         “And may I ask what business you have with me?”

         Erwin knew what the conversation would be about, but asked for fun anyway.

         “We suspect you may be the target of an assassin we’re hunting. We’d like to help you, and make sure you’re safe.”

         Bingo. “I’m not sure I follow, Agent Lang.”

         “Point is, we’d like to place some bodyguards, maybe put a tracker on you, and watch your every move.”  
         “Now, I don’t want that.”

         “This is for your own safety.”

         Erwin chuckled a bit at the statement, and the next second he could hear the man on the other end grunted.

         “Erwin, tell me you haven’t developed another genius idea to deal with this guy.”

         “Why can’t I?” Erwin asked. “I mean; I have the right to think. Let’s agree that it’s a universal human right.”  
         “From the way I see it, you’re just gonna get killed.”

         “How very kind of you.”

         “Fine,” Lang sighed. “I’m not gonna pretend you can’t deal with him yourself. One question.”

         “I’m going somewhere to audit a company.”  
         Erwin put the phone down the exact moment Mike walked into the room. Erwin stood up as he tidied his collar, grabbed a few files from his desk, and walked out.

~•~

         Levi prepared his rifle, and sat on the top of the building, waiting.

         There were many people crowding in the streets under him, waiting in front of the entrance of a grey building. Most of them were reporters from newspapers or television – one could tell from the cameras and microphones they were holding. Levi kept his eyes on the entrance through the eyepiece on his rifle –

         And Erwin Smith came out from the building.

        

         “Mr. Smith!” “Please look over here!” “Do you have a minute?”

         “Sheesh, all these reporters.” Mike pushed some of them as he pulled Erwin’s arm. Erwin smiled at them and kept muttering ‘sorry, maybe some other time’, but the sea of people just seemed to be endless.

 

         Levi steadied the rifle in his hands and aimed at Erwin. The sea of people was endless, but it wasn’t his first time shooting a particular person in a crowd and get away with it.

         Erwin’s head was in the point of intersection between the thin white vertical and horizontal line.

         Levi placed his index finger on the trigger, and –

 

         “Where the fuck is the car?” Mike asked as he kept looking around.

 

–    missed.

        

         “Arghh!”

         “Oh God, Stevan, are you… there’s blood!”

         All attention quickly shifted to the two voices, and seconds later people were running around.

         A young man in grey shirt fell to the ground, blood oozing out of his head. Erwin quickly grabbed the young man’s hand, trying to check his pulse, only to notice that he was shot just above the neck from behind, and was definitely dead.

         “He’s dead.” He turned to Mike. “Call an ambulance.”

 

         Levi could barely believe what had happened.

         He was certain that the person he was aiming for was Erwin, and the very last millisecond before he shot he was damn sure it was Erwin Smith.

         And yet he’d shot someone totally different.

Levi bit his lip in frustration as he walked out of the building. He couldn’t have mistaken Erwin for someone else, and yet the truth was that he didn’t shoot the right person.

With such a failure, Levi wouldn't be able to shoot Erwin and risk failing to kill him for a while – probably for at least three months – or he'd make a pattern. Plotting another method shouldn't be difficult, but it was the fact that Erwin survived that overwhelmed Levi; somehow, it seemed to be something more than mere luck, hell, it probably counted as a miracle.

By the time Levi boarded a bus, no police cars were yet to be seen.

~•~

Levi walked into his apartment and slammed the door shut. He locked the door and the windows, closed all curtains, and made some tea. He put two sugar cubes into his mug, and drank the tea with two Valium pills, and drifted to sleep.

~•~

_“Pastor!”_

_A boy stood by the door, legs trembling_ _, eyes fixed upon the_ _sight in front of his eyes._

_“Why are you here?”_

_An old man was lying on the floor, blood flowing from his mouth. The room was a mess – books and bibles were strewn about, some candles were lying on the floor, some tables destroyed. The boy hesitantly stepped into the room, but once he was inside he quickly ran to the old man and grabbed his arm._

_“Pastor!” He shouted desperately. “What happened to you? Why...”_

_“Run...” The old man coughed ribbons of blood, and that was when the boy noticed a hole in the old man's chest._

_“You have to run,” the old man said. “That person is still here... run, run, and stay alive. Leave me here.”_

_“I'm not leaving you!”_

_“Don't be silly, now. You'll be fine, alright?” The old man wiped the boy's streaming tears. “The Lord will bless you and stay with you. Isn't that right, Levi? That's what your name means after all. You are always attached to God and he is, always with you.”_

_“Pastor, please, run with me!”_

_The old man sat up to hold the boy in his arms, and looked up to the ceiling – as if he could see God there._

_“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name...”_

~•~

This time, Levi woke up with tears forming at the edges of his eyes.

He sat up and glanced at his watch – it was already 6 PM. His weapons felt so heavy, as if they were actually pulling him down to earth. Levi decided to keep them on his body for precautions, though.

_But what is it that I’m preparing for?_

         Levi found himself asking such questions he knew the answer to – _something like that incident, of course._

He made himself a cup of instant noodle as consolation food, then sat on the couch and turned on the TV. He didn’t doubt that there would be at least 5 different versions of his failure, but he just thought he should see how badly they said it.

         “Earlier today, around eleven o’clock, a shooting occurred in front of the headquarters of the Survey Corps. The victim is Stevan Hank, a reporter from ‘News and Beyond’ magazine…”

         Next channel. “I think it’s obvious that Hank isn’t the real target. I mean, an innocent reporter like that…”

         Next channel. “So far, the investigation had produced nothing of significance. The bullet passed through Hank’s head and killed him instantly – that’s all we know. However, who fired it, from what gun was it fired from, the police couldn’t find out.”

         “But isn’t that strange?” the other reporter on the channel asked. “Usually the police can find out about these very easily, for example, from ballistic markings and all those stuff, right?”

         “They weren’t able to find any markings on the bullet, however, seems like the bullet was fired from one of the neighbouring buildings…”

         Next channel. “Could it be that the shooter was actually aiming for Erwin Smith?”

         Levi turned off the TV and continued eating in silence.

         Just five seconds into it, though, he heard something ring not very far away from him. He took out a phone from his pocket, and noticed that it had 11 missed calls from the same exact person.

         “Levi, goodness… You okay?”  
         “Hey.” Levi sighed. “Sorry, Farlan, I was sleeping.”

         “What happened? That Hank guy didn’t even look like Erwin at all, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t mess up something so simple…”

         “I don’t even know, alright.” It was the first time in probably Levi’s lifetime that someone actually called him, asked him if everything was alright, and Levi had no idea whether that was a good thing or not. He just knew that he felt so fucking humiliated for failing such a simple kill.

         “Did your commissioner call you?”

         “I’ve… never failed at killing someone.”

         He could hear Farlan sigh at the other end, but it sounded more like worry than disappointment.

         “Usually, if an assassin fails to kill someone, their commissioner will call them, at least ask them what happened and whether they can still go on with the job…”

         “Do you doubt me, Farlan?”

         There was a slight pause before Farlan said, “No, not at all.”

         “I don’t doubt that I can do it, either,” Levi said. “Thanks a bunch, Farlan.”

         Levi turned off his phone and checked the other phones to see if anyone had called, but there weren’t any. The call probably wasn’t in yet, or another possibility Levi wished would be true was that the commissioner expected a failure.

         He drank the rest of his tea, put the mug in the dishwasher, and walked out of the apartment.

         He didn’t have anywhere he wanted to go to – he’d just let himself wander, and pray that he wouldn’t meet anyone annoying.

~•~

         Erwin sighed loudly as he finally exited the bus. He didn’t think that anything weird happened, but everyone around him kept acting like it was weird, and he hated that.

         The whole trip to Bart Company was cancelled, and Erwin wasn’t even allowed to schedule the audit. Mike and he was dragged by the police to the station and questioned about the conditions during the incident, and they weren’t allowed to leave until the investigation was over. At the end, the policemen weren’t able to find anything, but that was expected. The public never expected too much from them anyway.

         Mike couldn’t dismiss the events as an ‘accident’ and insisted that he go home with Erwin, but after Erwin convinced him for an hour that the killer wouldn’t want to attempt another shooting at risk of being caught, Mike finally gave up.

         In the bus, he could hear people whispering about him – some passengers even left once they saw Erwin sitting on one of the seats. Even the driver gave him a weird look as he boarded and paid the fare.

         All he’d had to eat today was a sandwich, and he sure was hungry. He decided to go somewhere near his house to eat so he could go home and sleep.

         However, as he entered the café, he saw a familiar figure sitting in a dark corner. A small card glued to the wall next to the table wrote ‘5’.

         “Good evening.”

         Levi looked up from his fruit salad (that he hadn’t eaten at all), and saw Erwin standing there. He sighed as he looked down on his salad again – he definitely didn’t want to see Erwin, but fate said otherwise.

         “Mind if I sit here?”

         “Whatever,” Levi groaned. Erwin sat in front of Levi and called a server to ask for burger and fries.

         “You sure have a lot of guts,” Levi said. “Aren’t you afraid that someone might be following your every move?”  
         “I doubt they’ll try again anytime soon,” Erwin answered with a smile, and Levi was so utterly disgusted by how Erwin could read his mind.

         “You’re… quite the famous guy, aren’t you?” Levi asked again. “I mean, you’re rich, and you’re powerful. I’m not surprised someone wants to kill you.”

         “You say so, yet you’re sitting here with me, risking yourself.”

         “You said that he wouldn’t attempt to kill you for a while.”

         “But you actually enjoy being my company.”

         Levi clicked his tongue. “You’re the one who keeps following me around, old man.

         “I’m going to the restroom,” he said as he stood up. He walked to where the ‘bathroom’ sign pointed, and as he turned into a hallway, he passed by a cart of food. There were various foods on it, however –

         There was only a plate of burger on it, for table number 5.

         Levi took out a small vial from his bag, emptied the contents onto the fries, and walked away into the bathroom. He entered a cubicle, smashed the bottle to the seat, and flushed the glass fragments away.

         Levi went back to the restaurant, expecting a small ruckus of some sort, but when he came back, Erwin was still sitting on the table calmly, no food in front of him.

         “…your food sure is taking a while.” _What the fuck happened?_

“No, they served it already, actually,” Erwin replied. “Unfortunately, when the waiter was serving me my food, a kid bumped into him and he dropped the food. So they’re making another one for me on the house.”

         Levi would’ve cursed every single sacred thing he knew if he wasn’t in a public place. He just bit his lip, and sat down in front of Erwin.

         “Sorry about that.”

         “Not your fault,” Erwin said. “Just eat your food. I noticed that you haven’t eaten any of it.”

         “I don’t know, I don’t really feel like eating,” Levi sighed, but he knew precisely why he was lacking appetite. “You can have some of my food.”  
         “I’ll probably leave you with nothing to eat, though…”

         Both of them fell silent after that. Levi tried to take some food, but he was a bit too frustrated and angry at everything that he only managed some strawberries and apples. He then put down his fork and sighed.

         “Are you okay?”  
         “Maybe.” Levi sighed again. “Happens at times. Don’t worry, I’ll probably get hungry later and I’ll eat a horse.”

         “Are you sure?” Erwin asked. “You look kind of pale, too.”  
         “Yeah…” _Well whose damn fault is it anyway._ “I think I’ll leave. Just wait for your food in peace – I’ll pay for my own tab.”

         “Wait, Levi.”

         He turned to Erwin, and noticed that Erwin was standing just behind him.

         “Here’s a card,” Erwin said as he put a name card into Levi’s pocket. “You can call me at anytime, okay?”

         “Why should I?”

         Erwin didn’t answer. However, Levi only smiled, and walked closer to Erwin.

         “You see,” Erwin replied. “I’ve taken quite a liking to you.”  
         “I can tell.” Levi landed a kiss on Erwin’s lips before he walked away to the cashier.

         _What an idiot,_ Levi thought. _And while we’re at it, a lucky one too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone notice the ace attorney reference because hell I respect you if you do (and it's pretty obvious anyway)


	4. 3

         Levi woke up at 7 AM sharp that day. He then sat up on his bed, and did what people might call ‘contemplating life’.

         Yesterday he attempted to kill Erwin Smith twice, and failed twice. It wouldn’t be wise in the least to attempt another murder, or people would notice that there had been too many murder attempts recently, which might trigger police investigation and led to people finding out about him.

         A bit more research might be necessary. He’d been dealing with easy targets that he could kill on day one with little to no research, and obviously, he couldn’t use the same amount of effort on Erwin. It’d be a pretty good chance to sharpen his skills once again.

         Just as he was about to boil some water for his morning tea, he heard something behind him rang. Turns out one of his phones received a call from a foreign number – it shouldn’t be Erwin’s, since he already recorded Erwin’s number in all of his phones.

         “Hello?”

         “Hey, Levi, it’s… me…”

         Levi almost closed his phone and threw it out of the window, but thanks to his wonderful self-control he only sighed.

         “What?”

         “Um, by the way, this is…”

         “Don’t tell me you need money.”

         “Actually…”

         Levi sighed as he turned the water heater on and quietly wished he could pour some boiling water to the man on the line.

         “I’m not giving you any. Time you try to learn how to save your own money. So, so long, Kenny.”

         “Nononono don’t hang up just yet Levi I called you for something else.”

         “Make it fast. I’ve got a man to kill.”

         “Erwin Smith, right?”

         Levi sighed even louder. They haven’t met in ten years and Kenny still read him like a book.

         “I’m thinking about selling you some information about him, so…”

         “Well, at the end you’re still asking for my money.”

         “At least this time I’m working for it.”

         “Whatever.”

         “Not a lot of people know this, but he used to work for Interpol,” Kenny started. “He quit a while ago, though, I think… it was 4 years ago.”

         “And why did he leave?”

         “I heard he was going to be fired, but before they could, he quit.”

         “What did he do there?”

         “He used to be… I’m not sure what it’s called, but he’s the one in charge of finding out how murders occurred. So let’s say there’s a murder, he’s the one who’ll come inspect the scene and see what the motive of the murder could be.”

         “…” _He can easily read all my moves that way, huh._

“I hope that’s new information.”

         “Why were they going to fire him anyway?”

         There was a long silence before he heard Kenny sigh.

         “He was deemed to be too psychotic,” came the answer. “That’s what I heard, anyway.”

         “I’ll send you the money soon.”

         He hung up and made himself some tea. He didn’t think Kenny wasn’t telling the truth about Erwin, but things sure took a weird turn. His mind wandered back to what the woman had promised her – that something would be added if he could get some information –

         _I’ve got nothing to lose._

~•~

         An hour later, Levi was standing in front of a building that was the condo Erwin lived in. He’d visited the place twice – once when he was inspecting the area, once when Erwin basically pushed him up to the wall and decided it would be a good idea to fuck him.

         Levi got to the staff room from the back door to find it empty. He looked around for secret cameras, but there were none. He found a uniform sitting on one of the shelves, and wore it without a second thought. It was a bit too big on his body, but he decided to just screw. He then took a mask, and started looking for cleaning equipments.

         The door suddenly flew open, and a big, blond man walked in with a young freckled man. They immediately noticed Levi, and walked over to him.

         “Hello there,” the big man greeted. “Are you new here? I didn’t hear anything from the manager though…”

         Levi jumped up at them. First he grabbed the blond man and slammed his head to the nearest wall until the blond man fainted, then he turned to the freckled boy, who was cowering in fear.

         Levi took out a small syringe from his pocket, and flicked it as he walked to the freckled boy.

         “W… wait, mister!” the boy shouted. “I didn’t do anything wrong! Please don’t kill me!”

         “Do I look like I’m gonna kill some poor-ass college student temping at an apartment?” Levi grabbed the boy’s arm, and twisted it to the back until the boy screamed.

         “I’ll just put you to sleep for a bit,” he said. “You’ll wake up in… I don’t know, an hour or two. By the time, I’ll be done here. So tell me,”

         “I’ll tell you anything! Please spare my life!”

         “…I won’t kill you. So tell me, who’s cleaning Mr. Smith’s room on the 24th floor today?”

         “That… that’d be me, sir!” the boy shouted. “I’m scheduled to clean his room today at 9 AM!”

         “Where’s the master key?”

         “It’s in that box!” The boy pointed to a white key box in the corner of the room. “The key with the ‘AA’ label! The code’s ten-fourteen!”

         “Are you sure?”

         “Yes, sir!”

         “Why, thank you for your cooperation.”

         Levi carefully injected the boy, and in five seconds the boy was fast asleep. He then took two big garbage bags and shoved the two strangers separately, and dragged them to the nearest dustbin.

         He walked to the key box, entered one zero one four, and the door opened. He looked for the key among the myriads of random keys, and found it hung on the top right corner. Next he looked around the room, and found another door that wasn’t the door the two strangers came in through. He opened it –

         He swore it felt like he’d just entered heaven.

         There were various cleaning supplies everywhere, and the smell of cleaning liquids and powders entered his nostrils – flowers, fruits, and antiseptic…

         Levi believed he stood there for at least five minutes before he snapped back to consciousness. He decided to not play with the appliances and loaded just a vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaner, duster, along with 5 different cleaning liquids onto his cart. Just when he was about to walk out, he remembered the two people he’d tied up, and decided that it’d be better to lock them up in the cleaning supplies room instead.

         He walked out a few minutes later, pushing his cart onto an empty elevator. He pressed button number 24 and quickly closed the door before anyone else could enter.

         When the door opened again, Levi was faced with an empty lobby. He looked around to see if there were any hidden cameras, and there were a few of them right above his head. He decided to do nothing about them, since he was already in disguise anyway.

         He walked to a door carved with the numbers ‘2401’ and inserted the key, and just like magic, the door flew open. He walked in then, and closed the door behind him.

         Levi knew there weren’t any hidden cameras in the suite (well, he literally turned the place upside down twice already), so he could put his things aside and get straight to work. He just searched the place two days ago and found nothing, but…

         This time, there was a stack of files sitting on the coffee table.

         Levi took one of them and flipped through the pages. They seemed to be about old cases from a few years ago, which raised the question: why are they here?

         The particular file he was holding was about a case from three years ago about the murder of an Interpol agent named Gunther Schultz. There was a picture of the said person, with a few pictures of the crime scene. Levi went through the autopsy report, which concluded that Gunther died due to bleeding after his throat was slit.

         “There weren’t any weapons found in the crime scene. The crime scene was strangely clean as well, implying that the victim was killed somewhere else and brought to the storage room. Mandible disappeared and hands were cut off. Victim was identified from dental records of his upper jaw. Autopsy report stated that body was at least a week old when found, as the abdomen was bloated and there were liquids coming out of...”

         Levi decided to skip through that, and read through the trial records instead.

         “There weren’t any suspects in this incident, as there weren’t any evidence strong enough to accuse anyone of the murder.”

Just below the statement, there were a few lines of handwriting.

“I believe Gunther isn't the real target of the killer,” was written in very tidy handwriting. “Gunther was probably killed because the killer wanted to silence Gunther, or because he knew something nobody was supposed to know, and the killer wanted to make sure the certain information didn't leak. The body was never meant to be found, as we can see, that there were attempts to prevent us from identifying the body by cutting off the hands and displacement of the mandible. It is very likely that the killer would make sure the information doesn't leak, and there may be future victims.”

Under all of the handwriting there was a signature that looked like the word “Smith” to Levi.

Levi closed the file and put it back on the table, and skimmed through the others. A lot of them were murder case files, and Levi would skip all the details – Levi was the man behind all of the cases after all, he knew all them already – and find the parts Erwin had handwritten. He didn't really care whether what Erwin deduced was correct or not, since he was just paid to do the actual killing – he never questioned his commissioners' motives.

The latest case file he read was a case from 3 years ago, about the murder of an ambassador, carried out by Levi (but of course nobody knows that).

Strange enough, all the cases were related to Levi. Levi wondered whether that was just a coincidence or something, but decided that he should do the rest of the thinking at home – he had to be fast, after all.

He looked at what used to be a pile of files, and saw that he'd read all of them, save for a thin old file that was sitting at the bottom. He opened it, and reading the title sent a chill down his spine.

_Raid of Imperial Church_

Levi quickly thought about closing the file and tidying the files, but there was also curiosity in the back of his mind.

He never knew what exactly happened that day. He got nightmares about it and such, yes – but he decided to leave the truth and not hunt for it any longer.

Nothing would change even if he knew everything.

Even so, he probably had always longed for the truth about what happened that day.

Had it never happened, he probably wouldn't be standing in a random apartment at that moment, hesitating about reading a file while trying to kill a man.

Levi sighed, and put the file down on the table. He figured that he shouldn't let himself be bothered by those things – they were of the past, anyway, and bear no relevance to the present.

Levi tidied up all the files, and left the room, pushing his cart.

~•~

Erwin was about to go out for lunch when his phone suddenly rang. The incoming call came from an unknown number – he wanted to just shut it off in case it was another salesman offering him shit, but he was expecting a call from an unknown number too.

“Erwin Smith talking.”  
“…I figured you’d be serious about giving your number.”  
 _Jackpot._ “Ah, Levi. Did anything happen?”

“No, nothing. Just figured I should try and call you to see whether it’s your real number. Now maybe I can sell it to some paparazzi.”

Erwin chuckled. “You won’t do that.”  
“Oh hell, I will, why not? A poor ass college student like me can use that money for a lot of good causes.”

“I know you’re not the kind of person who’ll do that though.”

He could hear Levi sigh on the other end.

“By the way…” Mike entered the room with a takeout box from the cafeteria, and sat on one of the couches in front of Erwin’s desk. “I’m wondering if you can come to Rose Garden tonight as well, Levi?”  
“Sure, I don’t mind.”

Mike looked up at Erwin, frowned in disapproval, but remained silent as he took out a bag of chips and put five in his mouth at once.

“Does that mean you’re fucking me tonight?”  
“Well… that depends,” Erwin replied. “Is seven thirty alright with you?”

“Sure. See you there.”  
Erwin put the phone down, then smiled as he walked over to Mike. Mike still looked like he wasn’t too amused with what Erwin had done – he might not say it yet, but it was all over his face.

“I deserve an award for maintaining such good relationship with my killer,” Erwin said as he took some chips from the bag. “Well? What do you think, Mike?”  
“You need settle the score soon,” Mike sighed. “It’s probably strange to you that someone’s so worried about you, huh?”

“I won’t get killed. And you’re always too worried, Mike.”

“Knowing you, I reserve the right to,” Mike snorted. “You’ll finish it soon, won’t you, Erwin?”

“Well, nothing’s wrong with playing a game,” Erwin replied. “I’ll stop playing when I’m bored, but I don’t see how I can be bored yet.”

~•~

When Levi arrived on the restaurant that night, Erwin was already in the room, sitting on an end of the table while looking through the menu and drinking some champagne. Levi quietly sat on the other end, but Erwin didn't flinch from his menu – did he really not notice, or was it all an act?

It wasn't until 5 minutes later that Erwin finally looked up and smiled.

Only then did Levi notice how handsome Erwin actually looked in the black shirt he was wearing. It probably was the same shirt he wore for the magazine photo shoot, but to see it with his own eyes, right in front of him, sure gave a different feel.

“You won't mind if I drink, will you, Levi?”

“Well, I'm not paying. I guess you can do whatever you want with your own money.”

“So how was your day?”

“Not bad,” Levi answered. “Although I'd appreciate it if you can take me somewhere that serves food with simple names, or has food descriptions.”

Erwin chuckled at that statement, but he quickly pretended to cough, not wanting to annoy his guest.

“You should try bouillabaisse.” Levi squinted at the word, but Erwin only smiled. “It's fine, I'm not even sure I pronounced it right. It's just fish stew, actually.”

“All the foods I've ever known in my life are burgers, sandwiches, pasta.”

“Should I choose something for you then?”

“...I'll just look through the menu and ask you.” Levi didn't trust Erwin enough to let him decide what to eat (yet).

“What's escargot?”

“No, you the t is silent,” Erwin corrected. “It's more like es-kar-go.”

“As long as it is food, I don't care how it is pronounced.”

“People will laugh at you in France, though.”

“Do I look like I'll ever go there?” (He'd been there a few times.) “Escargot.”

“Yes, that's better,” Erwin praised. “It's snails. It tastes pretty good, but I don't really like the idea of eating snails, so...”

“Forget it.” Levi flipped through the page. “Snails are dirty.”

It was silent for a few minutes before Levi found something else.

“And what is foie gras?”

“No no no that's wrong, you don't say it like ‘grass’ it's...”

“...Stop.”

Levi decided to not ask about foods he couldn't pronounce and decided to go for something simple – Shepherd's Pie. Erwin ordered something that just sounded like gibberish, and Levi decided to not ask about it.

“I brought a book,” Erwin said as he took out something from his briefcase – it was a small, thin, black leather book with the words _Poems by Edgar Allan Poe_ printed in silver on the cover.

“What's that, thousand year old literature?”

Erwin laughed as he opened the book.

 “I found a poem that suits you,” he replied. “So I thought maybe I should show it to you too.”

“This isn't the age where you write poems to your lover anymore.”

“It's called ‘The Raven’,” Erwin said despite Levi's remark. “You probably heard of it before.”

“I'm not a hundred years old, so no.”

“It's about a man's encounter with a raven that can only say ‘Nevermore’. The man asked the raven about a lot of things – why did his friends leave him; why did his lover die – but all the raven answered was ‘Nevermore’.”

“Do I look like my vocabulary is that limited?”

“At the end, when the man told the raven to leave, it insisted to stay. It became a haunting image for him – a silent reminder.”

“And what’s that supposed to relate to me?”

Erwin only smiled, but Levi noticed that Erwin’s eyes were lit up.

“Well, that’s something for you to decide, my dear.”

~•~

Levi found himself in Erwin's penthouse an hour later. Erwin was busy biting and sucking Levi's necks, and it sure hurt, but Levi just bit his lip and decided to bear the pain.

“So this is how it works?” Levi asked when Erwin finally let go. “You buy me dinner then fuck me?”

“I don't see anything wrong with that,” Erwin replied, then pressed his lips against Levi's. Erwin kissed hungrily, passionately, his tongue moving in Levi's mouth aggressively. Levi tried to push Erwin away, but the more he attempted and failed, the more excited Erwin seemed to be.

“Fuck,” Levi gasped. “You trying to suffocate me or something?”

Erwin pulled Levi close, trying to trap him in a kiss again, but this time Levi was quick enough to cover Erwin's mouth.

“Lend me your bathroom.”

“Sure. You know where it is, don't you?”

Levi pushed Erwin aside and walked into the bathroom. Erwin thought about walking in too, but Levi probably wouldn't like the intrusion – he decided to just be patient and prepare the other things.

“I'll be in my room, Levi.”

Erwin walked into his room, took a few props from his wardrobe, and laid them on the sofa. There was a whip he especially liked, and handcuffs. He took out a bottle of lube from the drawer of his nightstand, then heard someone knock on the door.

Levi was standing there, wearing nothing but one of Erwin's button-down shirts. It was obviously too big for him – Erwin couldn't see Levi's hands, and the hem hung right below his erect cock. Levi walked to Erwin, and pulled him into a kiss.

“You like it, old man?”

“Very much, darling,” Erwin replied as he took Levi's cock in his right hand. Levi let out a soft moan as Erwin brushes its tip against his finger, and Levi sounded so sensual Erwin could feel his own cock twitch.

“Good boy,” Erwin whispered. He bit the sensitive part between Levi's neck and shoulder, and Levi moaned again. 

“Now, don't hold back your voice.” Erwin took the handcuffs stuffed them into his pocket. “I want to hear all of it, okay? And if you don't feel comfortable with what I'm doing, tell me.”

“Okay.”

“Now sit by the edge of the bed.”

Levi followed the order, and sat on the bed. Erwin then came to kiss him, aggressively and passionately like before, while secretly handcuffing Levi. By the time Levi realized, it was too late – he could only try to free himself in vain. Erwin smiled upon seeing his struggles.

“I'll take them off you if you're good, okay?”

“Fuck.” Erwin was now holding the whip in his hands, and Levi already disliked where things were heading. Still, he only bit his lip and looked away.

“Now, that's not a very appropriate thing to say,” Erwin said. “Get on all fours.”

Levi complied, and that was when he realized how unfortunate the situation he was in. His ass was completely exposed despite the oversized shirt, and Erwin seemed to be eyeing it hungrily.

Then came the pain.

 Levi first felt it on his thighs, then the pain crept up to his ass, leaving a stinging sensation once the whip was gone, and they were alright, but as Erwin continued the pain became unbearable. He didn't like it, wanted it to stop, but he couldn't say it because it also felt so good that he wanted to let Erwin go on as long as he wanted to. Every few whips Erwin would stop, and touch the red sore skin – Erwin's touches felt so warm, so relaxing after all the pain.

And the next few seconds all the comfort would be replaced by pain again.

Levi had no idea how long it went on until Levi let out a gasp. Erwin abruptly stopped then, leaving Levi raw and sore – Levi couldn't see Erwin's face at the time, but he was sure Erwin was smiling. He then felt utterly disgusted with himself, for letting himself being reduced to that state.

“What did I tell you?” Erwin asked. Levi could feel the pressure from Erwin's thumb on his hole. “You're not supposed to hold your voice, Levi.”

“Sorry.” Levi somehow felt hurt that he'd went against orders. “Sorry, I won't do that a...”

Erwin pushed his thumb in before Levi could finish his sentence. It wasn't too painful, but the sudden entrance forced a moan out of Levi anyway.

“Good boy.” Erwin was now above Levi, Levi could feel Erwin's shade on his body, his breath so close to his nape, his whisper like the hiss of a demon. “If you're good, I'll let you have my cock.”

“I don't need it,” Levi said between his breaths. “But just hurry and...”

“Oh, you love my cock,” Erwin whispered as he pushed his fingers deeper. “I want to come in you and watch my cum drip from your beautiful little hole. Or should I just let you suck it and watch you choke?”

“Don't...” Erwin's voice was so arousing. “Stop it.”

“Don't stop? Alright.”

Erwin pulled out his finger and stood up again. Levi tried to turn his head, to see what Erwin was going to do, but before he could he felt his hole being stretched open, and the next thing he knew was that Erwin had buried his face in Levi's cheeks, and he could feel something warm and wet moving inside him.

“Fuck,” he gasped. “Can't you just hurry up and get it over with?”

“You like this,” Erwin whispered – Levi felt a tingling sensation from feeling Erwin's breath so close to his hole. “So I'll make you enjoy it so much, and you'll keep wanting more and more, but I'll deny you of it. At the end you'll be begging, begging for my cock.”

“Shit...” Levi's cock was dripping precum already, and Erwin was still fully dressed. “What the fuck, Erwin, just...”

Levi was interrupted again as Erwin dipped his tongue back into Levi's hole. It felt so embarrassing, to be fucked by the man he was supposed to kill, but Levi couldn't help but enjoy all of it.

A few minutes later Erwin stood up, and turned Levi's body over. Erwin finally began to undress himself, starting from unbuttoning his shirt, and then pulling down his pants. Levi could feel his cock twitched when he saw Erwin's cock in front of him, and he wanted nothing but for Erwin to just go ahead and fuck him with it.

“Erwin,” Levi called with his cracked voice. “Fuck me already.”

“Not so fast.” Erwin took his gag, then stepped back. Levi sat up from the bed, and slowly sat on the floor on his knees. Erwin grabbed Levi's hair when he started sucking.

“Hmm, good,” Erwin moaned. Levi's mouth felt so warm and moist, and Erwin had to hold himself back from just fucking into Levi's mouth. Levi tried his best to suck – Erwin's cock was so big it almost didn't fit.

Levi then felt something blocking his airway, and he instinctively coughed. Erwin pulled out his cock out of Levi's mouth, then looked at Levi with concern.

“Was I too strong?” Erwin asked as he took it off. “It's fine, darling. Sorry about it.”

Levi put Erwin's cock back into his mouth, and sucked it carefully. Erwin was moaning above him, his hands grabbing Levi's hair so forcefully it hurt.

“You're a good sucker,” Erwin moaned. “God, it's like your mouth is made for it.”

“Please realize that I can also bite your dick off.”

“That's not a very nice thing to say, is it,” Erwin said with a smirk. “But you did good, Levi. You did really good.”

“So you're freeing my hands now?”

“Soon,” Erwin said. “Once we're done.”

Levi lay on the bed, and Erwin was right in front of him. Levi wrapped his legs around Erwin and Erwin pulled him close, and kissed him passionately again. Levi then felt that his body had become light – turns out Erwin was carrying him in his arms and pushing him to the nearest wall – and the next second he could feel something big and hard entering his hole.

Levi kicked so hard that Erwin almost dropped him. Apparently it was still painful, although Levi already wet Erwin's cock with his spit. It felt so slow and painful, as if Erwin's cock was going to totally break open his hole.

“Erwin,” Levi gasped desperately. “It hurts, fuck, it hurts...”

Still, Levi couldn't deny how good it felt like. He enjoyed how Erwin's cock was always slightly too big, and his muscles were never quick enough to adjust. Erwin wanted to pull himself out, now that he knew Levi was in pain, but Levi kept pushing himself to Erwin's cock, as if forcing it to get in as deep as it could.

“Feels... so good...” Levi was too focused on the pleasure that he could barely think about anything else but Erwin's cock in his ass. “Deeper, Erwin, deeper, ah...”

“Levi, don't force yourself if...”

“Fuck...” Levi's nerves were on edge, his cock was so hard and probably already dripping to the floor. “Erwin, I'm coming, ah...”

They both came on almost the exact moment – Levi's hole clenched even tighter than ever. Levi came moaning Erwin's name, and he moaned about how wet, how good it felt like, that Erwin kissed him again and let Levi's moans be muffled. Levi kept pushing himself to Erwin's cock, demanding more and more, not getting enough of that feeling.

Levi immediately fell asleep after that, and Erwin had to put him down on the bed. Erwin took off the handcuffs like he'd promised, tossed them aside without too much thinking, and lay down next to Levi.

 Levi looked so peaceful when sleeping, as if he was just an innocent child. Erwin muttered ‘good night’ as he messed Levi's hair, then drifted to sleep.

 


	5. 4

         Erwin woke up to find an empty space next to him. He sighed as he woke up and massaged his throbbing head.

         The clock read 7:30 – Erwin knew he wouldn’t make it to the office on time if he didn’t hurry up and get ready, but just as he got out of bed, he heard his phone ring.

         “Erwin Smith speaking.”  
         “Erwin, I already called the office to reschedule all your meetings up till lunch. Where are you?”

         “Heading out.”

         “Don’t. I’ll be there in ten. Wait in the lobby?”

         “Mike, my meeting with Mr. Dawk had been scheduled 2 months ago, you can’t just cancel it.”

         “You’re meeting him for lunch instead. We’re going to Hanji’s place.”

~•~

         When they arrived, a black-haired girl was already waiting for them in the lobby. Mike and Erwin walked up to her, and she quickly turned to them.

         “Mr. Zacharias, Mr. Smith,” she greeted. “Ms. Zoe is waiting upstairs.”

         “Mind telling me what’s going on, Nifa?” Mike asked. The girl, however, only sighed and shook her head.   
         “I’m not too sure either,” she answered. “I think it has to do with Mr. Smith, though. Shall we go up?”

         The three of them entered an elevator, then the girl pressed a few buttons on the elevator, and the elevator moved up.

         The Zoelogy Lab was a private company focused on research and development of anything that could benefit the human race. So far they had been credited for quite a few things, like vaccines for some diseases and developments of hybrid plants. Hanji Zoe, the founder, was a mad scientist, but thanks to her love in science and her madness the small company quickly grew in just 4 years.

 The lift stopped, and the door opened to a dimly lit laboratory. A red-haired woman was standing there, reading something from her files, while a young woman with long blonde hair was sotting in front her, tied to a chair.

The blonde woman quickly noticed the visitors, and recognition dawned in her eyes.

“Smith...”

Mike quickly stepped in front of Erwin, as if shielding Erwin. The woman only laughed and looked away.

“Well, I'm tied, you see,” she said. “I won't kill anyone even if I'm not.”

“So, Erwin,” the red-haired woman interrupted. “We kinda looked into where your killer had been going to this past few days, and some said he met with this girl.”

Erwin turned to the blonde woman, and smiled.

“What's your name?”

There was a slight pause before the woman sighed and looked away.

“Christa.”

“So you met Levi, didn't you?” Erwin asked. “Who sent you?”

“I'm not too sure myself,” she replied. “He's old, though. I think he's a politician too.”

“Do you know his name?”

She looked around the room for a while while kicking her legs, trying to find the answer in her memories.

“Lobov? I'm not sure, but he's got a weird name.”

Erwin threw a dirty look at the red-haired woman, who only smiled sheepishly as she picked her nose. Mike squinted a bit upon hearing the name – that was the politician who was always criticizing Erwin's every word. Mike didn't expect the old man to sink so low, though.

“Moving on.” _What the hell did Hanji do to make this girl so honest..._ “So what did you tell him?”

“I told him to kill you and get a bit of info,” she answered. “He got a diamond ring as the down payment and he was supposed to...”

“Have you received anything?”

“He gave me a key to a bank's safe, and I found a stack of money inside. There are about twenty thousand in there.”

“Are you supposed to meet with Levi again?”

“The old man will contact me if it's necessary.”

Erwin leaned against a wall as his mind raced. Now he already knew how everything was planned, who the mastermind was, and what might happen in the future.

_Assassins aren't that easy to deal with. They have their pride and reputation every time they get a mission. Levi seemed to be particularly good at his job, but he doesn't know who I am yet. Or maybe he already knows, but decided to keep it. I'm not surprised._

_The game sure had become interesting, but I can't get killed if I want to keep playing. I don't want any interference either. I should get rid of Lobov..._

“Christa,” Erwin said a few minutes later. “I want you to stop seeing Lobov, and just do what I say. You can ask for anything you want, if you agree to help me.”

Erwin walked over to Christa, and smiled again. She stared at him for a while, as if thinking, and then smiled.

“Can I ask for a position in the Survey Corps, then?”

“Depends on what you want to be.”

“Wow, alright,” she said with a chuckle. “I'm kidding. Can I ask something first?”

“Sure.”

“You guys... aren't what you seem to be, right?”

Silence took over. Erwin stood there, still smiling; Mike was looking out of the window; Hanji was writing something in her files.

“Well,” Erwin broke the silence. “A book can't be judged from its cover.”

~•~

Levi had woken up to a rather uneventful day, and he was thinking about staying at home to let his ass calm down, but before he could even make tea, he heard his phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Levi, right?” Levi immediately recognized it as the voice of the girl he met a few days ago. “I’m wondering if we can meet in an hour or two…”

Levi glanced at the clock, and noticed that it was already 9 AM. “Where?”

“Anywhere you’d like… since I don’t think you’ll like my workplace.”

 _What the fuck does this girl do for a living?_ “Trost Street number 47 – the Springer Café. See you in an hour.”

And that was how he ended up sitting in a booth in the darkest corner drinking tea and eating pancakes.

It didn’t take long until the blonde girl walked into the café and noticed him. She walked over to the booth, and sat in front of him.

“What is it?” Levi asked. “Your boss decided to cut off the deal?”  
“Actually, it’s the opposite,” she answered as she started fishing through her bag. “He decided that you deserve a reward for your efforts, and told me to give this to you.”

She took out a thick book and placed it on the table. Levi flipped through the pages, and found two hundred dollar bills stuck between every single page. Levi sighed as he closed the book and looked at the cover – the book was titled ‘1984’, and it was some kind of collector’s edition.

“What kind of man is your boss?” Levi asked. “He’s a weird guy.”

“Aaaaanyway,” the girl cut. “He’s expecting a kill soon, okay?”

“Fine.” _I wonder if this is normal…_ “I assume this is my final payment?”

“Well, it won’t be fair if it is,” she said. “You can just run off with the money and…”

“You don’t know assassins well enough,” he cut, and the girl noticed how his expression had turned much darker.

“An assassin doesn’t give up on a job,” he said. “The target must die. Even if the assassin will get caught. That’s the contract between the commissioner and the assassin – the assassin will make sure the target dies, no matter what it takes. And if the target doesn’t die, I’ll chase him to the ends of earth and pry out his heart.”

The thought that Erwin Smith had eluded death twice by ‘mere luck’ angered Levi more than anything. Everything was too coincidental – as if all of them weren’t mere luck, but rather, something that had been planned.

“Tell your boss Erwin Smith will die.”

Either way, a mission must be completed.

The girl sighed as she looked away.

“You’re scary, sir.”

“…well.” He took his cup of tea and drank half of the liquid. “Of course.”

“Anyway, I got this from my secret sources.” The girl stood up and leaned closer to him. “I heard…”

“How reliable is your info?”

“Awww, trust me just this once! I want to help you too!” the girl sighed. “I heard Erwin’s going out of the country!”

…Now that was a bad situation.

“When?”

“Pretty soon,” she answered. “I’m not too sure, but probably tomorrow.”

Levi took out his phone, and quickly dialed a number.

“Hello?”  
“Farlan,” Levi muttered. “I heard…”

“About Erwin’s going somewhere?” Farlan cut. “Yeah, he’s going to Tokyo. The information hasn’t been made public yet in order to avoid media attention, but it’s true.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow, 4 in the morning.”

That’d mean that Levi only had 18 more hours to kill Erwin before he was out of range.

He took out one of the bills from the book and placed it on the table. “Order whatever you want with that and pay for my food,” he told the girl, and then he walked out of the café.

He didn’t have a lot of time left – nothing’d better stand in the way.

~•~

Erwin hopped on his usual bus, paid the fare, and started to look for a seat. There were a few vacant seats, but his eyes quickly fell on a seat next to a black-haired young man in a green hoodie sitting by the window.

“I wasn't expecting to see you here,”Erwin said, but Levi didn't budge. He just keep looking out of the window, silent, as if trying to ignore Erwin.

“Something awful happened today?”

Levi shook his head, but kept his mouth shut. Erwin decided to not press further, and took Levi's hand instead.

“You have time tonight?”

“You didn't fucking tell me you're leaving.”

Oh, so that was why.

“How did you know?”

“What, so you do plan to leave me here without saying a word? Rude.”

“Well... It wasn't supposed to take long,”Erwin said. “I thought I'd just go and return before you know anything. Anyway,”

“Now that I know, what are you going to do about it?”

“I suppose I can treat you to dinner,”Erwin said with a smile. “Would you like a gift from Tokyo? They have some pretty interesting things.”

“You know what,”Erwin could feel the weight of Levi's hand on his own, and Levi's face felt so close to his. Erwin was just about to say “Levi, we're in public”when he felt Levi's lips pressed on his cheek.

“You have time tonight, sir?”

~•~

Erwin opened the door to his unit, and Levi quickly walked in, threw himself on the sofa, and took off his hoodie. Erwin sat next to Levi after locking the door, and caught Levi in a hungry yet gentle kiss. Erwin then let go, started trailing kisses down Levi's throat, bit him a few times, making him moan.

“I'm gonna miss you,”Erwin whispered as his hands moved down to Levi's crotch, and he smiled upon discovering that Levi had begun to get hard. “You'll miss me pretty badly too, don't you, dear?”

“You'll miss fucking me,”Levi hissed.

“I'll make sure you miss getting fucked by me then.”

Erwin hastily took off his suit and loosened his tie, and Levi left a light kiss on his lips and leaned on his broad chest for a while.

“I'll borrow your bathroom again.”

“I hope you like toys,”Erwin whispered. “I'm planning to take out a few fancy ones.”

Levi only smiled as he walked away into the bathroom.

“Later, I want you to knock before you come into my room, okay?”

That being said, Erwin walked into his room and opened his wardrobe. He took a set of keys and used one of them to unlock a drawer.

Inside was a few things –a gag, vibrator, and beads. He quietly wondered when was the last time he'd used one of these things. He laid them on the bed along with the whip ad handcuffs he used from last time.

He could already imagine what he could do with all these things. First he'd handcuff Levi to one of the bed posts and gag him. Then he wanted to slowly put the beads in, maybe open Levi with a finger or two, see what noises would he make, what reaction would he give. After that it might be a pretty good idea to leave Levi for a while, let him wait, let him suffer, let him beg, and...

“Erwin.”

Erwin snapped back into reality, and turned to the door. He sat on his chair in the corner of the room, and turned back to the door.

“Come in.”

At first Erwin expected to see Levi in one of his shirts again because yes, Levi looked really sexy in them –but obviously, Levi had another plan.

Now he was wearing nothing but a pair of black stockings that stretched all he way up to his muscular thighs. Erwin couldn't help but look at Levi's cock that was in plain sight, and he could feel his own cock twitch.

Levi walked to Erwin and sat on his lap, facing him, their cocks brushing against each other. Levi brushed his finger on Erwin's lips, and he planted a hungry kiss.

“You're beautiful,”Erwin praised with a sigh. His hand moved to Levi's ass and he gave it a squeeze, making Levi let out a moan. His fingers then proceeded to slip into the stockings, trying to pull them off, but Levi caught his hand.

“Not now,”Levi whispered, and Erwin sneered. He grabbed Levi's cock and brushed the tip with his thumb.

“Sit by the bed,”he said, and Levi obediently went. Erwin took the handcuffs and noticed that Levi was already eyeing the other things.

“You wanna play with them, don't you?”Erwin asked as he tied Levi's hand. He took the gag and lifted Levi's face, then tied the gag around it. Levi seemed to be uncomfortable with it at first, but a few touches and he already seemed to be at ease. 

“Now...”Erwin pushed Levi to lie flat on the bed and Levi seemed to be really eager, as he was opening his legs and resting one of them on Erwin's shoulder. Erwin could see Levi's little hole in front of him, ready to be abused. He placed a finger on the opening and pushed in.

“Ah...!”

“Good.”Erwin pushed a finger in, then added another soon after. He could feel Levi's hole clench around his fingers, as if trying to suck them deeper. He scissored them for a bit and watched as Levi moaned and squirmed, his voice muffled by the gag and his saliva coming out uncontrollably.

“I'll put another one in, Levi,”Erwin said, and before Levi could object, he felt more pressure on his hole, forcing them open.

“Erwin, Erwin, go on,”he wanted to say, but the gag made him sound like he was sobbing. Fortunately Erwin kept pushing in, fingers almost brushing Levi's prostate every time. Levi really wanted to tear his handcuffs open and push himself into Erwin's finger, but it was as if Erwin was the one who wanted to be a tease.

Erwin pulled out, and licked his three fingers –a sight somehow so arousing for Levi. Levi moaned and squirmed at how empty his ass felt like now, but before long he noticed Erwin holding something like a necklace in his hands.

“I'll put these in your ass, Levi,”he said. “And you're gonna really like it. I'll leave them there for a while for you.”

Erwin then opened Levi's hole once again with his fingers, and Levi could feel something cold and hard entering him. He didn't like it, he wanted to pull it out, but it kept getting deeper and deeper into him.

Erwin seemed to be pleased by the time he got all of them in. He wiped the bits of Levi's tears that was forming on his eyes, and grabbed his cock.

Levi found Erwin taking his cock in his mouth the next second.

It wasn't the first time Levi had his cock in someone's mouth, but it felt strangely pleasant when it was in Erwin's. Erwin took his time with it, starting with the tip, then slowly licking, grazing his teeth along the length until the base. It just felt so overwhelming, so good, when Levi felt the tip of his cock in the back of Erwin's throat.

Levi felt himself on the edge, almost going to come, when suddenly Erwin stood up and wiped his mouth that was smeared with precum.

Levi kicked his legs furiously, angry that Erwin had denied his orgasm, but Erwin only smiled. He took the vibrator, and very slowly pushed them into Levi's hole. Levi was forced to lie still at the sensation of another thing stuffed into his ass, but then Erwin flicked the switch on,

And Levi felt so aroused, so wonderful, too wonderful that his whole body was shaking. He screamed as his body felt the strange sensation that almost seemed like it was too much to bear.

“Levi,”Erwin's voice sounded so blur to him that Levi doubted it was actually there. “Levi, darling,”

And without any warning he felt the first sting of pain on his thighs.

“Ahh!”He was screaming uncontrollably at this point, unable to handle the overstimulation. He could feel a hand lifting him up, his knees on the cold ground, then came the pain again, this time on his back.

“Er... ah, ahh!”

The pain felt almost illusionary. Everything was too much, but they just wouldn't seem to end. The pain, the things stuffed in his ass, Erwin's words of consolation. He just really wanted to get it all over with, wanted to come quickly and fall into a deep sleep.

Levi had no idea how long it took until the pain stopped. Next he felt Erwin turning off the vibrator and he just felt really thankful for that. Erwin then carefully removed the gag, and forced Levi to look up at him. Levi seriously didn't want to look at himself –he was probably a mess right now.

“You're so beautiful,”Erwin praised, and Levi felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, but he was also proud that he did everything right. He unzipped Erwin's pants and took out his cock, but before he could do anything, Erwin moved to Levi's back, and he felt something pulled out from inside –the beads.

“Erwin...!”His ass twitched at the emptiness, and Erwin seemed to notice. Erwin positioned himself behind Levi, and rammed his cock in.

“You like my cock, don't you, you little bitch,”Erwin whispered. Levi pushed himself to Erwin, trying to force Erwin's cock deeper, further inside him. It hurts, it fucking hurts, especially without the lube, but the sensation that his ass was being forced open was too pleasant. Erwin grabbed Levi's cock in his big hand, and smeared its tip with Levi's precum.

“You're full to the brim,”Erwin whispered as he pushed himself further. Levi felt Erwin's cock touching his prostate with every push, and he was so close, too close –

Levi felt himself burst into pieces as his whole body tensed and he came.

~•~

Levi had no idea how much time had passed when he woke up. Erwin was sleeping next to him on the bed, facing away from him.

 _Now,_ Levi thought. _Now or never._

Levi took out a thin knife he'd been hiding in the thicker part of his stocking and brought it to Erwin's neck. This would be the last time he had, before the target slipped out of range.

Just cut his throat and everything would be over –it was that simple.

“What are you doing?”

Levi felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the question, and the next second he was pushed to the nearest wall. Erwin was in front of him, wide awake, holding both his hands.

“Let go...”

“If I do, you'll kill me,”Erwin said as he took the handcuffs and once again handcuffed Levi. Levi tried to kick Erwin down, but Erwin expertly dodged, and Levi hit the bed instead.

“You...!”

Erwin had taken something from his shirt pocket, something so small Levi couldn't see. Levi desperately tried to knock it off Erwin's hand, but Erwin only raised his hand and slammed it on Levi's thigh. Levi felt sharp pain where Erwin's hands had hit, and realized that he was holding a small syringe.

Levi suddenly felt weak. Erwin pushed him to the wall, kicked his chest so hard he dropped the knife in his hand.

_No, not yet, not like this, I have to kill him, kill him..._

“You've been conducting a nice show all this time, Levi,”he could hear Erwin said as his voice grew distant and everything seemed to turn darker. “But one thing...

“I won't let you win.”

 


	6. 5

Levi woke up with a start. His head hurt and his body felt strange, but he still forced himself to get up. He was in his room – yes, there's no mistake of it –

That wasn't exactly... correct, right?

He was dressed in a clean shirt, everything in his room was tidy, as if he'd come into his room last night and slept like usual. Just when Levi was about to get out of bed and check the things in his room, he noticed that his wrists were hurting badly. He rolled up his sleeves to check, and noticed that they were wrapped in bandages.

So what was written in his memories was true after all.

_Erwin Smith... he knew about this all along, doesn't he?_

He rolled up his shorts, and saw that one of his thighs was also wrapped in bandages. He sighed loudly as he walked to his bathroom.

“Levi!” His attention quickly turned to the voice from outside. He muttered a few curses as he hurried to his closet to take out a few things, but –

“Open the door! Levi!”

“Shut the fuck up Farlan!” _This guy's not gonna go away until I force him to._ “You go back home!”

“Levi, I'm saying this as your friend! Stop going after that guy!”

Levi took out a gun, put his rifle in his violin case, took a few knives and vials of poison, then hastily stuffed them in a small bag. He wore his usual hoodie, bound two knives to his thighs, and hid them under baggy trousers. He opened the door to his apartment and took out a small knife.

“Step aside.”

“No.” Farlan was blocking the door with his body, his arms stretched out. “Levi, there's no man you can't kill but this guy. You need to stop.”

“Well, no,” Levi replied coldly. “Erwin Smith is human, he's not God or something. All humans die.”

“You included, Levi.”

“This guy's gonna die in my hands – let's just fucking agree on that.”

“If he is, he's gonna be dead by now! Just give it up, Levi! Not like your commissioner has contacted you or anything! He probably knows that it's impossible!”

Silence took over. Levi's knife was still pointing at Farlan's neck, and even though the latter seemed to be anxious, he only bit his lower lip and stood there, not moving.

“You know I can just kill you and pass, right?”

“If you do that I'll make sure you're found guilty.”

“Can't you just. Fucking step aside peacefully.”

“This is the least I can do as your friend.”

It was true.

The two of them had known each other for at least ten years, even before they got into this shady business. Before they did, they just helped each other and tried their damnedest to live, and after they did, Farlan became some sort of informant, and they might not be together as much as they used to, but nothing could stop them from helping each other.

Even now, Levi couldn't find any reason why Farlan would try getting in his way like that.

“...Farlan.”

Levi lowered his knife and sighed. Farlan smiled, seeing that he was successful.

“See? That's better, right?” Farlan asked as he lowered his hands. “Now let's...”

“I'll be fine. You have my word.”

That being said, Levi pushed Farlan away and left.

~•~

Mike walked over to Erwin, holding two paper cups in his hand. Erwin was busy eating a croissant while reading the newspaper.

“Your cappuccino.”

Erwin turned to Mike, and smiled. “Thanks, Mike.”

Erwin took the cup Mike handed to him, then Mike sat down next to Erwin. He was reading something about the accidental murder of the reporter on the other day – seems like it only got famous because Erwin was there.

Erwin closes the newspaper with a sigh, and rested his head on Mike's shoulder. Mike gently ran his hand through Erwin's hair as he looked out of the window.

“Tired, Erwin?”

“Barely slept last night,” Erwin replied as he stuffed the last piece of croissant into his mouth. “I'll sleep in the plane.”

“Got rid of your killer?”

“Decided not to.” Erwin smiled when he felt Mike snorted. “Come on, Mike. It'll be fun.”

“Lang'll be mad.”

“Like he can do anything about it.”

Mike then felt something in his pocket vibrated. He took out his phone, and sighed when he saw the number.

“Talk about the devil.”

“Pick it up,” Erwin said. “Tell him I said hi.”

Mike nodded and pressed the green button on his phone. “Zacharias.”

“Mike, you're the only person with common sense I can ask for help right now,” came the voice from the other end. “Tell Erwin, he's interfering with our investigation, and I don't like that.”

“He's helping you in a way. Erwin said hi.”

“Tell him Lang will be in Tokyo and we'd better not run into each other. And I'll be the one who deals with this Levi.”

Erwin chuckled, but quickly stopped to make sure the microphone didn't catch it.

“Erwin thinks what you said is very funny.”

“Mike—”

“Tell him he's an asshole, Mike.”

“Our plane's leaving.” Mike then turned off his phone and sighed. Erwin was now drinking his coffee while looking through some files.

“You two are like kids,” Mike said with a sigh. “If you guys get along, the said investigation would probably be over by now.”

“I'm the one who wants it to go on, right?” Erwin said.

As he opened the file concerning a raid of a church years ago, he noticed that one of the pages was torn.

~•~

Levi eyed the information board above his head as he walked to a counter. A man in a suit who was sitting behind it greeted him with a smile.

“Why, good morning, sir.”

“That plane,” Levi pointed to the board. “The one leaving for Japan in an hour, I want a ticket.”

“Sorry, sir, but we don't have any more economy class...”

“Then get me business or first class. Any ticket is fine.”

“I happen to have a business class ticket, sir, would you...”

Levi placed his credit card, which the man quickly took.

Levi knew from the board that there was only one flight that had left for Tokyo in the morning. He had no idea whether Erwin would be there – well, if he isn't good, if he is, Levi would be a few hours behind.

“Please check in on the counter over there, sir.”

Levi took the ticket and his card, and quickly left.

~•~

Mike stretched his arms as he and Erwin left the arrival area. Mike was only carrying a backpack, while Erwin was dragging a small luggage and a briefcase. The words 'Welcome to Japan' in various languages were right above their heads.

“Let's go to the hotel,” Erwin said. “It's not too far away from here, is it?”

“It shouldn't be,” Mike answered. The sky outside was pitch black, however they could see the lights coming from the various vehicles and machines that were still working. Erwin stopped by a shop, took a newspaper, and skimmed the headline.

“They know we're coming,” Erwin said. “Says here, _Young Politician from Sina coming to Japan._ ”

“You're famous, aren't you, Erwin?”

Erwin only smiled as he put the newspaper back on the rack. They turned to walk away from the shop, however –

“Smith.”

The two of them turned to the voice, and saw a white-haired girl in a white shirt with puffed sleeves walking to them. Erwin smiled as he walked over to her and took her hand.

“It's been a while, Mei,” he said as he kissed her gloved hand. “I wasn't expecting to see you here.”

“Neither was I, until a certain someone called and told me you're coming,” she answered coldly. She then turned to Mike, and turned to Erwin.

“Well, I hope you die, so I can get your killer prosecuted,” she frowned, “Although I could've got him years ago.”

“Don't worry, I can do it for you, Mei.” Erwin smiled, “Although I don't think I'll die.”

“Foolish fool with his foolish confidence,” she sighed. “Whatever you say. I see you haven't changed at all – your confidence can kill you one day. I've a plane to catch.”

“Have a safe flight, dear.”

“I hope we don't meet again.”

The girl then turned around and left. Erwin shrugged at her words, while Mike seemed to be slightly annoyed.

“Don't sweat it, Mike,” he said. “She'll be too busy with her own thing by the time I get Levi killed.”

“You keep saying you'll deal with him, but I don't see your situation getting any...” Erwin raised a hand, and Mike stopped talking.

“The time, Mike,” Erwin said. “Imagine if I killed him way back home. Won't that tarnish my name? If I can kill him here – secretly, they won't even think of me as a suspect.”

“You think so? If Lang and Mei are here, they're very likely to point their fingers at you, and Interpol can arrest you.”

“Didn't you hear, Mike? Mei won't be here. Lang knows me pretty well to let me go.”

“All the cool talk and Levi might not come here.”

“Oh, don't you worry, since he will,” Erwin said with a smile. “I can feel it.”

Mike snorted.

“Yeah, your feeling can even be decisive evidence.”

“Is this coming from a man who once testified that he smelt a criminal?”

 

 

Two hours later, Levi had walked out of the airport with an edition of newspaper in his hands, and was busy looking for a certain man.

~•~

It was five in the morning when Levi decided he'd done enough research and started to prepare a few things.

After he arrived, he spent some time finding out the hotel Erwin was staying in. The room was located on the 23rd floor, and Mike's room was directly across of it. Getting up there might be a bit tricky since Levi probably wouldn't blend in as easily, but not like it couldn't be done.

However, Levi also managed to take a peek at Erwin's schedule for the next day, which involves a dinner event with some reporters in a restaurant famous for its rooftop views. The neighboring building had been empty for a few years, and was perfect for an observation area.

Imagine how dramatic it would be if Erwin suddenly died in front of his admirers.

Levi already felt the thrill just from thinking about it.

Levi made sure to bring a few bullets with him, in case Erwin somehow managed to dodge his shot. He wouldn't give so much mercy like before to let him go –

 

Erwin looked at himself in the mirror proudly. He was wearing a newly ironed blue suit, with a black shirt inside.

It was going to be a rather hectic day. He had a few meetings arranged with some of his colleagues in Tokyo who wanted to talk to him about potential business collaborations, then meet with a few journalists who were interested in Sina's politics, and then it was time for the event of the day, where he was to witness the opening of Survey Corps's branch in Tokyo. Afterwards he was supposed to go have ‘dinner’–

Thinking about it made him smile.

Erwin walked over to the table by the window and took his cup of coffee. The sky was dark blue with orange rays coming from the bottom, forming a beautiful contrast of colours and dying the clouds orange. Erwin sipped his coffee slowly ad he watched the orange rays grew brighter and brighter –

He was looking forward to the special events of the day.

“Here I am, Levi,” he whispered. “I'm watching.”

 

This time, Erwin must die, no matter what.


	7. 6

Seven thirty.

Mike looked at the mirror for the final time; fixed his tie, tugged his suit, smelled himself, and smiled, satisfied. Erwin was sitting on the table behind him, looking out of the window.

The sky had gone dark. Erwin could tell from the white globs floating there that it was cloudy, but he didn't see the moon anywhere. Below him, the city was brightly lit with colourful lamps, and people were swarming on the streets.

“You okay, Erwin?”

Erwin smiled as he gave a nod. Mike still looked at him, worried.

“Are you sure?”

“Actually, I'm...” Mike noticed that Erwin's hands were trembling. “Pretty excited.”

Erwin stood up from his chair and walked over to the wardrobe. He took out a small shiny metal box that looked pretty sturdy, put it on the table, and opened it.

“Been a while since we did something like this, huh?” Erwin asked as he looked at the contents of the box lovingly. “Let's move, Mike.”

 

Levi put his violin case by a column and looked around.

Right now, he was standing on the top floor of the building. Obviously the building had been abandoned for a long time – dust had piled up on the floor, so thick that Levi could see the trail of his boots, spider webs was hanging down from the ceiling, the windows around him were broken, glass shards were scattered all across the room. 

 _This place totally needs to be cleaned,_ Levi thought as he pulled up his mask. He looked over out to the building next to the one he was in – he could see a few reporters walking around on the rooftop, talking to each other or taking pictures. The abandoned building was a few stories taller than the other building and Levi chose to not shoot from the same level, so he could have a bird's eye view of everything.

Still no signs of Erwin.

Levi mounted his rifle and inserted the bullet he'd coated with toothpaste. It was seven thirty already, and Erwin didn't look like someone who'd miss such an important event.

_Perhaps he forgot about the time difference? But no, that's impossible. He used to work for Interpol too_ _–_ _maybe he has a watch for every timezone._

_...Where is he then?_

 

A blonde man exited the lift and walked into the rooftop restaurant. All eyes quickly turned to him, and some photographers started taking pictures. One of them , a red-haired woman with glasses in an ivory coloured dress walked up to him with a smile.

“Yo, Erwin!” she greeted with a smile. “I managed to get here in time! Isn't that great?”

She then noticed something unusual. The blonde man started looking around nervously, then forced a smile to all the people around him.

“Did you accidentally shave half of your eyebrows?”

“Hanji,” the blonde man sighed. “You know the answer, don't ask.”

Hanji smiled frivolously as she looked away.

“Lang called, by the way,” she said. “He's coming here. Should we tell Erwin?”

“Don't know...”

“Mr. Smith!” A reporter tapped the man on the shoulder and raised the mic to his face. “How do you like Japan so far, sir?”

“Ah...” The man turned to the reporter, stroked his chin for a while, and then smiled. “How should I put it... it's a nice country. In your language – subarashii.”

 

A blonde man had just walked into the rooftop restaurant.

Levi quickly looked through the eyepiece of his rifle and aimed for the man. There were a lot of people around him, but he was tall enough so that his head stood out from among the crowd.

It wasn't difficult to get the blonde man's head on the intersection of the white lines. He rested his finger on the trigger as he followed the man's head with his rifle.

_Now._

_Now's the time._

A man walked into the abandoned building, holding a gun in his hands.

A smirk was drawn on his face, and he was trembling with excitement.

 

_Now. It's now or never._

The blonde man's head was in the middle of the circle; one bullet will end his life _._

Levi pulled the trigger –

 

“Levi.”

 

Levi thought his heart had stopped when he felt the warmth of a hand on his shoulder. Before he could turn back, he felt the coldness of metal behind his head.

“Levi,” the voice called again, now much closer, as if the person was right behind Levi, eerily calm. “Hands on the floor.”

Levi wanted to turn back, wanted to see who it was, who was it that failed his plan, but the cold hard metal behind his head had to do nothing to tell him it wouldn't be a good option. Still, his hands remained on his rifle.

The voice was barely audible, and although it sounded so familiar, Levi couldn't guess who it was. As if the stranger had muffled his voice using a piece of cloth or something.

“You're not shooting anyone. Now hands off the gun.” 

Levi grabbed the longest, sharpest glass shard within his reach, and turned around. His hand quickly aimed for the throat of the person behind him –

“Now then,” The person easily grabbed Levi's right hand that was holding the glass, and pushed it to the window. Fortunately, Levi managed to slip away just before he hit the sharp broken windows.

“...Erwin.”

“I told you I won't let you win, didn't I?”

Erwin swept his hair up, and let them fall on his face messily. He was wearing a normal suit, without any safety gears or anything – just a gun on his right hand.

“Won't let me win? How arrogant.” Levi took out a knife and pointed it at Erwin. “You're almost unarmed.”

“Almost.” Erwin smirked, “So let's agree that I'm not unarmed.”

Levi clicked his tongue as he jumped at Erwin, aiming for his throat. Erwin expertly ducked and aimed for Levi's hand, but Levi dodged the bullet with his knife. Levi quickly ran down the stairs, figuring that it'd be the best way for him to catch some breath and think of a strategy.

Erwin sighed as he saw that Levi was no longer in the same floor. He took out his phone and walked to the window. The sound of his footsteps echoed in the darkness.

“You know, I have a perimeter set up around this building,” Erwin announced. “For your information, you can't run away. I'm pretty sure you're not planning to, though.”

The statement was responded with silence.

Erwin stopped walking, and silence quickly took over. Erwin closed his eyes and focuses on his hearing.

If Levi was to walk anywhere, there was no way he couldn't hear it. The building was a perfect place for any sound to be echoed loud enough to be heard a few floor away – or so did he deduce from the blueprints.

_Perhaps he'd run far enough? Or did he manage to find a hiding spot in time?_

Erwin suddenly felt his phone vibrate in his hands, and saw the a new message.

“We're done setting it up, sir! The cameras should be working now.”

Erwin smiled as he switched his phone to another application.

“I'm watching, Levi,” Erwin declared again. “Once you're in this building, you've entered your own coffin.”

 

Levi looked out of the window as he took out another knife from his pocket.

What Erwin said was right – there were a few dozens of police cars lined outside the building and they had a few barriers set up. Among them, Levi spotted a few officers wearing black uniform instead of blue.

He was basically trapped. Killing Erwin meant going straight to jail, not killing Erwin also meant jail too.

It'd probably be better to face Erwin and force him to disband the policemen later.

Levi got up from where he sat, a knife in each hand.

He heard them then – the footsteps.

Levi managed to run a few stories down, but Erwin probably wouldn't need too much time to catch up. He decided to just make use of the chance and stood behind a column directly facing the stairs.

 

_Seventh floor, huh..._

Erwin looked at the number plate mounted on the column in front of him – it read eight. Erwin looked at his phone again, and saw Levi still crouching behind the column of the floor beneath him, ready with two knives.

He was secretly happy he'd set up such a convenient stage for their game.

He knew Levi was going to follow him literally anywhere after that night where Erwin sent the challenge. The dinner party on the rooftop restaurant was arranged with Erwin's knowledge of the empty building, and he used the situation to set up five cameras in every floor; he had the connections and ability to do that, so why not?

_This place should do._

Erwin aimed the gun towards the window –

 

Levi heard a bang, then a loud crash.

_What's that? Who shot? Is it Erwin? Someone else?_

_It might be a trap, but who?_

Levi stood up from his spot, knives still in hand.

If he tries to run to another floor, Erwin might hear him and locate him. Staying wouldn't help though, since Erwin could go there at anytime.

After a few minutes, he decided to run for the stairs.

 

“There he goes~”

Erwin walked down the stairs, and from the camera, saw that Levi was running down the stairs to the 5th floor before he stood behind a column. As he approached the column with the plate number seven, he saw Levi getting ready with his knives. Erwin calmly took out his gun, aimed at the column, and shot.

“Are you there, Levi?”

 

Levi bit his lower lip as hard as he could, trying to stop himself from screaming. He looked at his right thigh, where there was a sharp pain just a few seconds ago, and saw it bleeding with a bullet fallen right in front of it.

He really wanted to turn around and see whether it was Erwin or not, but he had no idea how that could be done without screaming in pain at all. He put one of his knives back into its holder, and squeezed the bleeding part, hoping that it'd lessen the pain.

“Found you.”

Levi gasped when he noticed that Erwin was standing right next to him. His first reaction was to raise his knife to attack Erwin, but before he could, Erwin pushed him to the nearest wall and pulled down his mask.

Levi's knife was right next to Erwin's neck, ready to cut at anytime, while Erwin's gun was pointing at Levi's chest.

“You probably thought it was a good idea to face me and try to make me tell the policemen to go away?”

“Fuck you.”

“Well, well...” Erwin's hand moved to Levi's injured thigh, and he caressed it gently. Levi hissed in pain and tried to push Erwin away with his free had, but in vain.

“Let go, you fucking bastard...”

“Hush.” Erwin gave a firm squeeze, and Levi's face twisted in pain. Erwin's bloodied hands then moved to Levi's face and cupped his cheek.

“Don't touch me,” Levi hissed as he grabbed Erwin's hand. “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“I was about to ask,” Erwin replied. “Who do you think I am?”

“Well you're the man I'm supposed to kill,” Levi hissed. “That's all.”

“Will it change anything if I tell you that I'm also your commissioner?”

Silence took over for a second before Levi hissed, “No. And that's impossible.”

“Not really,” Erwin smiled, “I mean, if people can so proudly declare that God exists and that He made this universe and everything within it...”

“God doesn't exist!” Levi suddenly shouted. “I wouldn't be alive if he does!”

“Why not?”

“I live my life denying Him,” Levi hissed. “That's why I kill. If God exists, he wouldn't let anyone die, would He? He wouldn't let me kill, right? And yet, all these people I've killed, and has He done anything about it?

“God's not real,” Levi concluded. “He died 14 years ago. He doesn't listen to my prayers anymore. He doesn't do anything for me anymore. He's forsaken me.”

“So you're going to kill me to prove that?”

“Yes.” Levi tightened his grip around the knife's handle. “Now die.”

Just as Levi was about to stab his knife into Erwin's throat, he felt another sharp pain on his other thigh. Levi instinctively let go of both Erwin's hand and his knife, and fell on his knees.

“I thought about releasing you if you'd let me go,” Erwin said. “Now that you seem to be persistent, I have to stop you.”

Erwin placed two fingers under Levi's chin and lifted his face. Levi had been pretty quiet despite the pain, and Erwin wanted to see how he could end that.

“You know, you're a really good killer,” Erwin said. “You had the misfortune of having me as a person to kill, that's all. If it wasn't me you're killing, you could've killed him on day one or two. Do you want to know why you can't kill me?”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing really. I just thought that you'd want to know.”

Without warning, Levi stood up and aimed for Erwin's neck again. Erwin tried to dodge, but he wasn't fast enough, and Levi managed to cut his right arm. Erwin tried to shoot again, but Levi was able to notice that pretty quick, and with a punch to Erwin's gut, managed to force him to drop the gun. Levi took the gun without any second thoughts, but as he turned at Erwin he noticed that Erwin was pointing a revolver at him.

Erwin shot and Levi felt the familiar pain again, this time in his right shoulder. Erwin then walked over to Levi and kicked his legs so hard that Levi fell on his knees with a gasp.

“Actually I prefer seeing you like this,” Erwin said as he lifted Levi's face again. “Crying, writhing in agony... what a beautiful sight.”

“You...” Levi tried to get up, but his legs hurt so much he could feel them throb. If he was to force himself to stand, he'd just fall the next second.

Levi let out a hiss in pain and looked down in defeat.

“Fine.”

_He's right._

_I can kill anyone. It's just a misfortune that I have to kill him. He's unlike all the others I've killed..._

“You win. There, happy?”

Levi really wished he could get up to punch Erwin's smiling face.

_What does he want to do with me now? Kill me? Torture me first?_

_My chance of getting out of here alive is pretty much zero._

“Don't look so gloomy, now,” Erwin said with his usual charming smile as if everything was perfectly normal, and Levi felt the urge to punch Erwin rise again. “We managed to settle this peacefully; isn't that a good thing?”

“Not for me,” Levi groaned. Erwin put his gun back in its holster and took the other one he dropped. Levi watched him, wondering whether he should get up and strangle Erwin, but the throbbing pain in his feet took him back to reality – the reality that he'd, indeed, lost.

Erwin pulled Levi up from where he was sitting, and pulled him into a kiss.

Levi couldn't help but be surprised with the situation. Erwin was attacking him so aggressively until a few minutes ago, with no other intention than to end Levi's life –

Levi forcefully pushed Erwin away, only to realize that Erwin had pressed a gun to the back of Levi's head. Erwin pulled him into another kiss, and contrary to the constant threat on the back of Levi's head, Erwin was gentle and passionate.

“Levi,” Erwin whispered as he finally let go. “Answer me honestly.”

“What?”

“What do you think I am?”

Levi fell silent for a while.

He never thought too much of Erwin. Sure, he was bloody smart and handsome, they fucked a few times, Erwin took him out to dinner and all, but all of that was just a facade.

Or was it not?

It's true that Levi had never let anyone close to his heart, Erwin included. Yet Erwin was different – he acted like he'd knew Levi forever, knew everything about Levi, knew him well enough to know how to manipulate him. Perhaps it was related to the stack of case files Levi found in Erwin's apartment back then.

Perhaps Levi had developed some kind of obsession towards Erwin, the man he couldn't kill.

Perhaps, Erwin too, had developed some kind of obsession towards Levi, the man he couldn't bring to justice.

“I... don't know.”

Levi looked out of the window, where he could see the policemen ready to arrest him.

“I'm not even sure what I am, now.”

“And that's fine,” Erwin whispered. “You don't have to know. You're alive, and that's all that matters.”

“You're gonna kill me now, though.”

“Not really.”

Levi looked up at Erwin to find that he was staring right into Levi's eyes, as if trying to tell him everything was going to be alright, as if trying to tell him he meant no harm. Levi stood still, staring back, as Erwin caressed his cheeks.

“Levi, my dear,” Erwin whispered. “I won't let anyone touch your precious self, for you're mine, and mine only...”

~•~

The policemen quickly turned their attention to the building as they spotted a silhouette exiting it. They raised their gun and aimed it at the exit.

“Don't worry,” a voice shouted from inside. “It's me, Smith.”

They lowered their guns and kept their attention at the door. A blonde man and a red-haired woman emerged from among the policemen, and they ran straight for the door.

Erwin walked out of the building, holding his injured arm. He smiled at the officers and the blonde man, then proceeded to walk out of the building.

“How did you retire so early, Mike?”

“Well, someone heard gunshots and policemen were kicking everyone out the next second. How about you?”

“Get an ambulance for the other guy,” Erwin said to an officer. “He's probably not dead, I don't know.”

“But sir, your arm...”

“This is nothing. Just get an ambulance.”

“Hey, Erwin,” the red-haired woman called. “You didn't kill him, did you?”

“Decided not to,” he replied with a smile. “I thought it'd be more interesting that way.”


	8. Epilogue

It was dark, and the darkness felt endless.

Like an abyss which end was not in sight.

As if time had stopped, as if the world had ended, as if all lives had ceased to exist, as if everything in existence had been reduced into the abysmal darkness.

Everything began in the darkness.

_“_ _And then God said, let there be light._ _”_

But there was none.

Darkness is eternal. Everything begun in the dark, and will end in the dark.

Was it bright when you were born? Isn't it dark when you are dead?

Light is an illusion that never existed.

No matter how beautiful or bright everything is, it'd eventually be dark.

 

 

And so the man continues to drift endlessly in the darkness.

~•~

Erwin wrote his name on the top of the list, then handed it to the nurse. He was holding a bouquet of purple flowers in his hand, and slipped among them was a small piece of paper.

“You may go in now, Mr. Smith,” the nurse said. “Pretty flowers, by the way.”

“How's he today?”

“Well, you know,” the nurse said with a sigh. “He kept asking for you and he didn't want to eat anything. Dr. Arlert told us not to call you though, not because he didn't want to interrupt you, but because he was worried about the patient's state of mind. He said such dependency could be pretty bad and stuff.”

“I'll talk to him about that,” Erwin said with a smile. He then walked down the hallway, and entered one of the rooms.

“Erwin!”

He smiled when he saw a black-haired man sitting on the bed. His foot was bandaged and supported by some pillows, and his right arm was bandaged. There was a food tray on the side of the room, with its food untouched, and a few books. The black-haired man smiled excitedly when Erwin sat by the bed.

“Have you been waiting for me, Levi?”

“Yes!” Erwin gave Levi a kiss on the forehead, and Levi smiled.

“I brought you some flowers like you asked me to,” Erwin said as he put the bouquet on Levi's lap. “Have you been good?”

Levi looked away sadly upon hearing the question. Erwin only smiled, waiting for the answer, as if he wasn't expecting anything bad.

“I...” Levi looked away. “I didn't eat lunch...”

“Eat them after I go, then,” Erwin said, and Levi's eyes lit up as he nodded.

“I'll finish all my food!”

“And make sure you do that every day.”

“Yes!”

“Good boy.” Erwin ran his hands through Levi's hair, and Levi giggled happily. “If you're good, I'll buy you lots, and lots of presents.”

“Yes!”

“So what should we...” Erwin then noticed a blond man in white coat standing by the window, watching.

“If you don't mind, Levi, seems like Dr. Arlert wants to talk to me. Can you sit here and wait for me?”

Levi nodded. Erwin stood up and walked out of the door, where the doctor was waiting.

“It's been a while, doctor,” Erwin greeted as he gave out a hand. “Are you doing well?”

“Ah, sorry, sir...” The doctor nervously shook Erwin's hand. “I didn't mean to interrupt your time, I just wanted to watch...”

“That's fine; I'm going to find you to discuss his condition with you, doctor.”

“Please just call me Armin, sir.” He turned to his writing pad and flipped through a few pages. “And about Mr. Levi, he seems to be adjusting just fine, sir. Some patients who suffer from amnesia tend to be very confused, disoriented, traumatized, and depressed, but he's showing no signs of those. However, I'm afraid that he's developing some kind of dependence towards you...”

“I see.”

“This might come off as rude, sir, but...” Armin turned to Erwin nervously. “May I ask what your relationship is with the patient?”

“Let's see...” Erwin looked into the hospital ward, where Levi was sitting quietly, waiting. “I'm not sure how to answer that, to be frank. Anyway, how about his state of mind?”

“It's safe to assume that he won't remember anything before the trauma. He seems to be capable of remembering things after that and he can memorize things.”

“Glad to hear that,” Erwin said with a smile. “You see, Levi has a terrible past. It'd be better if he can forget all of that and start again.”

“Yes. Still, about his dependency...”

“Don't bother about that, doctor,” Erwin said as he turned to walk back into the room. “That's all planned, and I don't want you to tamper with it.”

“Sir.” Erwin felt a hand grab his shoulder, and he turned around to see Armin.

“I'm not sure what you planned,” he said. “But if you want him to start a new life, I doubt that it'd be the right thing to do.”

“I never said I'll let him start a new life,” Erwin said. “I did say I want him to start again, but doesn't mean he can start a new life of his own. He's mine, after all. I just want to make sure he wouldn't think of leaving me or anything ridiculous like that, and one way to do that is to make him depend on me so much he can't do anything without me. Now if you'll excuse me.”

Erwin walked back into the room and sat by the bed like before. Levi quickly took Erwin's hand and held it firm and looked up to him longingly. Erwin smiled as he messed Levi's hair and let Levi rest his head on Erwin's chest.

“Levi,” he whispered. “What if I suddenly disappear?”

“What? No!” Levi looked up at Erwin, tears welling up in his eyes. “Where are you going, Erwin?”

“Somewhere,” Erwin answered with a smile. “Is that alright with you, Levi?”

“Take me along with you,” Levi sobbed. “Please, please, Erwin, don't leave me alone, don't leave me alone...”


End file.
